Shepherdʻs Pie with Gravy

This dish, like many of my dishes, doesn't have a recipe per se. Sometimes you just have to throw care to the wind and hope for the best. That's what I did with this recipe. 

Ingredients

one red bell pepper, chopped

one round onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 8 oz pkg mushrooms, sliced

TVP (found in health food stores, it is textured veggie protein and is rehydrated with water or broth) or soy crumbles or whatever meat like substitute you are comfy with, or beans)

1 can corn (I didn't have corn so you won't see it in this one but I so wish I did)

vegetable broth (or whatever broth you usually use)

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes or hash browns

pepper and no salt seasoning to taste

nutritional yeast (optional)

Daiya cheese (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350. In a good size pan (or pot) saute (in a little water) the onions, bell peppers, garlic and mushrooms. As water evaporates add more water. While that is sauteing rehydrate 1 1/2 cups of TVP following the directions on the package. When the onions are transluscent, add the rehydrated TVP, corn and fire roasted tomatoes to the pan. If it looks dry, add more broth. There should be just a little liquid on the bottom of the pan. Add seasonings. Let simmer for about 10 minutes on the stove to let the flavors meld. If you need to add more broth, do so.

Pour the mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. No need to oil the pan. At this point, I used hash browns that I rehydrated (not the best choice but they were in the pantry and I had zero potatoes in my kitchen). You can make mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes OR you can use frozen hash browns. I wouldn't bother defrosting them. Remember, if you are making your own potatoes, you can add soy or almond milk to thin them out but not the usual butter or cream! Add some pepper and no salt seasoning if you wish.

Put a nice layer of your potato mixture on top of the filling. The amount is up to you. 

Sprinkle the top with nutritional yeast and Daiya cheese (optional) and pepper.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

I actually started the saute process with no water. It's a non stick pan and onions and mushrooms tend to give off some liquid when cooked.

The TVP actually ends up looking like ground turkey. It absorbs the flavors surrounding it and mimics ground beef quite well. Boo hoo no corn!

You could actually add more ingredients and make this hearty part of the dish thicker than what mine turned out to be. Maybe add some beans or other vegetables. I would add chopped zucchini and spinach as part of the saute process for more bulk. The possibilities are endless. 

My daughter's favorite. Had to use it up. Not the healthiest choice. I used two of these for my pie.

That's nutritional yeast sprinkled on top. I also had about 1/2 cup Daiya cheese. Totally unnecessary. I won't use it next time.

I think more of the bottom layer will happen next time I make this.

Hot out of the oven!

Making a gravy was a last minute decision so I had to do a frantic search in my cookbooks and ended up with this two step gravy found in the Happy Herbivore's cookbook. If you haven't purchased it yet, it's a must have in your repertoire of cookbooks. So many great recipes within. I also own her other cookbook, Everyday Happy Herbivore. If I were you, I would double the recipe below because once you taste the gravy you will want to add more to the top of your Shepherd's Pie. I kid you not.

No Beef Broth (makes 1 cup)

1 tbsp shoyu

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp vegal worcestershire (the recipe is in her book...I just used regular worcestershire)

1/4 tsp onion powder or onion flakes

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp gorund ginger

1/8 tsp pepper

Whisk all ingredients together in a small pot and bring to a boil. And that part's done. Now go on to the next step.

No Beef Gravy

1 cup No Beef Broth

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp whole wheat flour or other whole grain flour

pepper to taste

Whisk broth, cornstarch and flour until well combined. bring to a boil over medium heat until it thickens. Add pepper.

I think the next time I make Shepherd's Pie I might add some of this gravy to the filling mixture or I am going to make extra No Beef Broth to rehydrate the TVP. Doesn't that sound yummy?

I was so pleasantly surprised by how delicious this turned out! Thank you Happy Herbivore!

Voila!

There is just two of us at home now and this HUGE pan only lasted us 2 nights. Needless to say, we didn't even consider a raw salad. That's a fault! And a habit I aim to break. Always start with the salad!!!! I shall make that my February challenge...a raw salad before the meal. My husband could not stop going back for more. And I must admit that I went back for more a couple of times. Easy to overdo it with a delicious dish like this. Salad first. Make it your mantra.