Shepherd’s Pie

My husband hasn’t been feeling well since last week, however, after several days of antibiotics he’s starting to feel a little better. With him under the weather, he wasn’t too hungry except for simple meals and in smaller portions. However, yesterday he was up for something a bit more substantial, so I prepared a Paula Deen recipe for turkey and sweet potato shepherd’s pie. The obvious differences off the bat are the use of ground turkey and a sweet potato topping.  The filling contained carrots, celery, Vidalia onion, parsnip, fresh rosemary and thyme, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, chicken broth and peas. The sweet potatoes are made with an egg and a bit of cream cheese. It takes approximately 30 minutes to prepare this dish and another 35 minutes for baking, but it serves 8. Depending on your family size, you can get either 1-2 dinners or a dinner or nice lunch for your family.

---

This was the first time I prepared a dish with a parsnip. After a bit of research, I found out that parsnips are high in vitamins and minerals, such as potassium. It also contains antioxidants and has both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. Who knew?  The parsnip is diced as well as the carrots, celery, and onion and all are sautéed in butter and I added some olive oil too.  Unfortunately, when I stopped at Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck yesterday, I didn’t have my shopping list with me and I forgot that I needed a Vidalia onion and not a yellow onion. However, the dish came out just fine, perhaps the Vidalia would have added a bit more natural sweetness to the dish. I used one pot to boil the sweet potatoes, a large frying pan to sauté the vegetables and a 9x13x2-inch baking dish for the finished product. 


The finished product was delicious! To me it seemed lighter in taste perhaps because of the difference in ingredients from the norm. The mixture of vegetable and herbs made for a flavorful filling. As I mentioned before, it feeds 8. I have enough leftovers for another night’s supper. All I have to do is perhaps add a side salad and I’ve got a quick dinner one evening.