Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie!

sweet potato shepherds pie!.png

Over the last few years I have sacrificed many of my favourite comfort food meals, because I over and above the intermittent fasting, I try to eat as few carbs as possible (I am mostly unsuccessful at this though hahaha) But after some time, this gets a little long in the tooth, so you learn to find "other" ways to bring those old "loves" back into your life... And once you start exploring that avenue, which I did several years ago - you will realise that it really isn't that hard to create an "almost" equal...

There is something so wonderfully inviting about comfort food! They are the kind of meal that just give you that warm and fuzzy feeling! I have always loved Shepherds Pie, and although this "version" is not made with traditional potato, it is not ANY less tasty!

Ok so essentially this is like any cottage pie,
except with added extras...
and topped with something a little different...

So, first of all instead of a traditional mashed potato topping,
we are going to do a sweet potato and butternut mash...

Boil those up until nice and tender,
mash, add some butter, salt and pepper
and then put one side.

For the mince base, you will need mince... duh! lol

Heat a pot with some olive oil,
and when ready,
as lazy Jayne does... she throws it all in at one go -
yeah - I make my own rules lol!

And by "all" I mean:

I like to add all kinds of leftovers -
which I did this time around...

as well as a few fresh additions -
which consisted of some julienne carrots and French chives.
The "waste not want not" ingredients consisted of
some left over salsa rice, plain rice,
some herbs in the fridge that were past their prime,
a bit of "not suitable for a salad anymore" baby spinach
and an onion which I had chopped, sealed and not used...

And so... it ALL goes in!!!

including some chopped garlic,
a chicken stock cube,
a couple of bay leaves,
some chicken spice
and some chutney ;)

I was not kidding when I said I throw it all in at once lol
I don't saute anything lol -
I literally just throw it all in...

I am guessing the guys will like this - lol...
"no mess, no fuss" hahaha!!!!

so yes, the above photo is where the "almost" low carb
part comes in, but I mean honestly,
in the grand scheme of things, if I got 20 grains on my plate,
it was a lot - and I am ok with that haha!

Ok, so once the sweet potato and butternut mash are done,
as well as the mince -
then you need to put them into an oven dish....

be sure to compress the mince nicely,
with the back of a spoon or such -
as this makes "serving" a lot easier later....

add the mash and be sure to spread it
evenly all over.
On this occassion I combined sweet potato and butternut
50 / 50 for the mash
I am not a fan of a "smooth top"
I prefer a "rugged" look,
so I use a fork for this...

then pop it under the grill,
don't walk away for too long,
otherwise it will be completely black haha!

I then crumbled a little feta cheese
and chopped french chives on top,
and put it back into the oven at a VERY low temp...
like 50 degrees Celsius - just enough to keep it warm,
and slightly soften the feta.