Easy Shepherd's Pie (w/roasted garlic mashed potatoes)

This cold weather we've been having called for a good ole comfort-food recipe this week. I decided to make shepherd's pie with my own twist, I topped it with roasted garlic mashed potatoes. A tasty, one dish meal to fill up those bellies after spending an afternoon playing in the snow. Bonus, you could double this recipe and freeze one dish for a quick meal on a busy night.

Shepherd's Pie:
1lb ground beef (or use any kind of ground meat you prefer)
1 onion chopped
2 cups of veggies (we used a combo of chopped up carrots, green beans, peas & corn)
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup of beef broth (or use powder bouillon)
1 Tbsp cornstarch (or something to help thicken the mix)
salt, pepper, seasonings of choice

For the garlic roasted mashed potatoes:
1 1/2-2lbs of potatoes
4-5 cloves of garlic
olive oil
milk
butter
and to make it extra creamy, you can use a bit of heavy whipping cream, sour cream and/or cream cheese

Peel & dice up your potatoes & cover with salted water to bring to a boil (about 20 min or so). Place your peeled garlic cloves in a "cupped" piece of foil and pour 2-3Tbsp of oil and seal the foil so the garlic can roast/steam. Place the foil into an oven or toaster oven at about 375 for 40 min.

While potatoes & garlic are cooking, put a bit of oil or butter into a frying pan and add the carrots & onions. Cook until the carrots are softened a bit. Add your ground meat and cook until no longer pink. Add to the pan, worcestershire sauce, beef broth, corn starch, salt/pepper/seasonings, and whatever veggies you prefer. Cook a few minutes to allow the broth & juices to thicken. Place meat mix in an 8x8 dish.

Mash your potatoes in a separate dish with the roasted garlic & oil from the foil packet, 2-3 Tbsp butter, salt, pepper, milk and if you want, some heavy cream, cream cheese or sour cream. Carefully dollup the mashed potatoes on top of the meat mix & gently spread around. Use a fork to create a few "peaks" in the mashed potatoes that will allow areas to brown nicely while baking. (see pic below)

 Cook in a 375 oven for 30-40 minutes (longer if you had this refrigerated or frozen). Broil for the last few minutes if you want your potatoes to brown. if you like cheese, you could toss some shredded cheese on top of the potatoes at the very end. *Tip: if your casserole dish is pretty full to the top edges, place baking dish on an edged cookie sheet to prevent it from spilling in your oven.

Printable Recipe for Shepherd's Pie