Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

Back when our first child was just a little baby, and I was back at work full time, I made a Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie almost every weekend.  It was so easy to take to work for lunches or reheat for dinners throughout the week, and it's one of my husband's favorite meals.  I'd never made it in the crockpot until now, though, and I am really glad I finally tweaked the recipe to work in a slow cooker.

This is the same great comfort food I would make every week, made even simpler by my handy crockpot.

Yum!

Serves 4.

The Tools:

-4 qt. crockpot (any bigger will cook faster, so keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn!)

-3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
-1 lb. lamb, beef or turkey (I think lamb is the tastiest)
-2 cups frozen peas and carrots (see note below if you want to use fresh instead)
-1 onion
-2 cloves garlic
-1 T herbs de provence
-1/2 cup beef broth (or water)

The Process:

Brown your meat on the stove with the onions, adding the garlic and the herbs towards the end.

Drain a bit of the fat and plop the meat mixture in the crockpot.  Stir in your frozen vegetables and mix well.

(Note: Of course you could use fresh instead.  If you don't do peas, you could easily substitute fresh carrots and fresh celery here.  I would actually just toss any fresh veggies I was using in with the onions when I was browning my meat.)

Pour beef broth (or water) over the mixture.  Using a rubber spatula, spread the mashed sweet potatoes over the top of the beef.

Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours.  If you're using frozen veggies, you're just letting this warm up and letting the flavors all run together since you already cooked your meat, so you could cheat and end a bit early.  If you're using fresh veggies, you'll need to let them cook through in the crockpot so you'll need the whole cook time.

Turn the crockpot to HIGH and take off the lid.  Let sit for 30 more minutes to make the sweet potatoes all crusty and yummy.

Enjoy!

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