Lazy Sheppard's pie recipe, Shepards? or Sheppards? whatever, its tasty and easy!

Posted by However you spell it, Sheppard's pie is a homestyl comforting dish that brings back childhood memories.  While its usually layers of seasoned ground meat, maybe some vegetables and topped with mashed potatoes +/- butter and cheese and herbs and +/- smothering it in a lot of gravy.  Like the classic mac and cheese, there's a bazillion versions of Sheppard's pie out there, and I'll be adding mine to the lot with this lazy version my mom used to make.

The beauty of this recipe is you can tweak and change things up to your own liking and if you have company coming over last minute, well, you can layer the ingredients up for a fancier looking Sheppard's pie. I like scooping out portions and then just mixing everything together into a delicious mess

Lazy Sheppard's pie recipe - makes about 8-10 servings
-2 lbs ground meat: I like using lean ground beef or turkey or pork. If you prefer it vegetarian, sub the meat out with vegan ground beef
-3-4 stalks of celery, diced
-1 medium or large onion, diced
- 1 cup diced carrots, about 2-3 large carrots
-6-8 medium potatoes, washed, peeled or not and sliced into 1/2 inch "coins"
-other random veges if you like: 1-2 cups of blanched broccoli, mushrooms, bell peppers, corn, peas etc
-1 teaspoon oil

Seasonings- feel free to add as many or little as you like
-2 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
-2 Tablespoons light soy sauce
-1 tablespoon mustard
-2 Tablespoons red wine
-1 teaspoon pepper
-1 tablespoon granulated garlic or 2 cloves grated fresh garlic
-2 teaspoons dried basil
-1 teaspoon dried oregano
-1/2-1 teaspoon hot sauce - I like using srirracha
-1 tablespoon dried onion

**optional: add 1-2 cups shredded cheese to the smashed/mashed potatoes

How to
1) Mix as many seasonings as you like into the ground meat and set aside. In a pot that can hold the potatoes (pot should be half full), fill the rest of the pot up 3/4 way with water and set to boil. Simmer potatoes for 10min or until they are soft when poked with a fork. Drain.
2) Meanwhile, wash, dice and prep all your vegetables.
3) Heat up a large deep pan or skillet with the oil on medium high heat. Brown the seasoned ground beef mixture stirring occasionally until all the meat is thoroughly cooked, about 10 minutes. Dump into a clean container or bowl.
4) Using the same pan, add in celery, onions, carrots and other vegetables, cook for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened and cooked through. Set aside
5) Mash the drained and cooked potatoes. Add in optional cheese if you like. Season to taste.
6) You can assemble in a 9x13 pan veges, meat and potato layers and bake in preheated 350 oven for a few minutes to brown the top potato layer, or just scoop into bowls and serve