Gilnean Shepherd's Pie

As some of you may know I'm the Site Manager over at wowvault.ign.com. It's a great job! I love it! I get to play games and write guides and be generally helpful. Three of my favorite things that rank right up there with cooking. This week I've been working on a guide to the best places to farm for critters for the Critter Kill Squad achievement. I was out exploring the hills of Gilneas where you can find herd after herd of easily AoE'd level 1 sheep.

Thinking about sheep for the better part of an hour also got me thinking about dinner. Which made me think about Shepherd's Pie. A delightful combination of meat, potatoes, veggies and cheese. The problem I have with it though is that it's usually a HUGE pie. Since I have only two people in my house we'd be eating shepherd's pie leftovers for days before I'd finally throw out the rest of it. Well I have a solution to that! Ramekins! They are individually sized dishes that are perfect for downsizing casseroles and the like.

But using ramekins for Shepherd's Pie wasn't good nuff for me. I always have to have a twist. So in honor of Gilneas for giving me the idea for dinner in the first place, I'm using the fabulous orange color of sweet potatoes. (I totally should have browned the top of it and then sliced three orange gashes in it so it would look more like the Gilnean flag but hindsight is 20/20. This will have to do.) Sweet potatoes give this dish a very interesting flair that sure to appease even a worgen.

Gilnean Shepherd's Pie

4 Servings | Total Time: 30 min | Journeyman

Mats:

• 2 Medium Sweet Potatoes
• 1 Tbl Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 Onion
• 16 oz Ground Beef
• 1 tsp Salt, divided
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 2 Tbl Flour
• 2 Tbl Tomato Paste
• 1 cup Beef Broth
• 2 cups Baby Spinach
• 1 can Peas
• 2 Tbl Butter
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 4 Tbl Parmesan Cheese
  

Craft: Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into about 1” chunks. Boil the potatoes for 10-15 minutes or until they’re easily pierced with a fork. Meanwhile, chop onion. Heat oil in a skillet. Add onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add ground beef, ½ tsp of salt and garlic powder. Cook until browned. Drain fat. Stir in tomato paste. In a small bowl, whisk together flour and broth then pour it over the meat. Cook, stirring frequently until broth thickens, about 5 minutes. Add in spinach and peas to the meat mixture. When potatoes are done, drain and mash them. Add ½ tsp salt, butter and milk to the potatoes. Preheat the Broiler of your oven. Divide the meat mixture into four broiler-safe ramekins. Divide the mashed sweet potatoes and layer over the meat. Place ramekins on a baking sheet and broil 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Strategies: If you don't like sweet potatoes you can certainly use any other kind of potato. If you don't have ramekins then just use a pie pan or casserole dish.

LFM: Serve with fruit & ice cream.

Cost:

• Sweet Potatoes | $1.25
• Onion | $0.50
• Ground Beef | $2.00
• Tomato Paste | $0.25
• Beef Broth | $1.25
• Baby Spinach | $1.75
• Peas | $0.75

Total Cost: $7.75
Cost Per Serving: $1.94

Category: Casual

*This meal contains staple items such as spices that you may or may not have in your pantry so your cost may vary.