Old Fashioned Shepherd's Pie

My northern roots will show through on this family favorite. I'm not saying it isn't fixed in the South; but in forty-one years, I've yet to see it on the menu anywhere. Momma used to fix this dish for us growing up and I loved it. It is very easy to fix and you can spice it up however you want. Momma ALWAYS used the early baby peas in the silver label can. Like she fondly says, "I'm not going to eat golf balls." I agree with her on this one. Even when baby peas were very expensive, this was one thing she didn't compromise on. You can now buy other less expensive versions. I finally let her know I didn't buy the silver labels anymore and she couldn't tell the difference. The simplicity is what I like the best. Shepherd's Pie is truly comfort food. The only draw back I foresee is if you have some folks in your household who can't deal with their food touching each other. I fixed this for Momma a few Wednesday nights ago and she thoroughly enjoyed it.


Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown two pounds of hamburger meat and onions. Feel free to add mushrooms or peppers to jazz it up a little. Season the meat with salt and pepper to taste. Additionally, add several dashes, to taste, of your favorite beef seasoning sauce. We like Alabama sauce, which is slightly less salty than Dales.

While the meat is cooking, peel, chop, boil and drain two large potatoes. Mash and season them like you would if you were eating mashed potatoes. Included in mine are a little butter, sour cream and salt and pepper to taste.

In a pie pan layer the meat mixture, top with one can of drained baby peas and frost these layers with the mashed potatoes.

Bake in the oven until the top of the potatoes slightly crusts over (or gets a little tinge of brown) and the contents get heated through.