Cottage Pie

Mine actually turned out looking very
similar to the picture in the cookbook!

Holy YUM!!! This recipe is my favorite yet! It came out of the 21 DSD cookbook. One of Phillip's favorite meals is shepherd's pie (I've been making it for him for many years, although I make it a lot differently now than I used to! (think powdered potatoes, frozen corn, and covered in cheese in the past)). So when I saw this picture I thought it looked very similar to it but with what I thought was sweet potato on the top until I read the description...butternut squash mash! There were so many spices added to the meat and veggies and the mash on top was just Devine. I'm sure that the bacon added in and on top helped a little, too!

What I made: Cottage pie with roasted broccoli

What I did differently/how I changed the recipe: One of the spices called for was "chipotle" I looked up and down the spice aisle several times but didn't see one just labeled chipotle. I did, however, see a siracha spice, so I got that and used it in place of the chipotle one. Also I used half beef and half bison, YUM!

The squash in the steamer basket on the left and meat on the right

What I learned: How did I live my life without a steamer basket? There were a couple of recipes that I'd made so far from this book that called for a steamer basket. So I stopped in TJMaxx that's next to Market Basket on my way in for grocery shopping and sure enough they had one for $6. Today was the first time I used it and I loved it! You put one inch of water, then put the basket, then the veggie and cover, bring to a boil, and wa-lah! In less than 10 min. you have perfectly soft and fork tender veggies. This thing is easy and awesome, love it!

Before digging in

Cottage Pie Rating: 5 Stars!!!!
Even Sonny liked the spicy meat (he wouldn't touch the butternut squash, but he did eat the meat). This one lasted us around 4 meals, too, so totally worth it!

It definitely doesn't keep the "pie" shape, but man oh man was it good!!