Cooking With Joy: “Buttery” Crusted Beef Pot Pie

I really don’t like standing at the stove at the end of a long day at work.

I always use the time guide from a recipe to let me know if its something that won’t take a long time to cook. I have found that the “prep time” listed in most cook books is off by about 15 minutes for me and my family (I need to factor in the kids asking for pre-dinner snacks and the baby crying).

Luckily I had the day off, so I was able to make the Shepard’s Pie without the added dinner time crunch.

I opted for the “Make it a Meal” version of the recipe, by topping the pie with mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are the ultimate comfort food for my family, and added a real lusciousness to this delicious dish.

Peeling and dicing all of those root vegetables, took up the majority of the prep time for this recipe, but it was well worth it! The deep flavors that developed from the browning of the meat and the caramelizing of the veggies is what really makes this dish sing. It’s not every day I get my kids to willingly eat parsnips, carrots, peas, onions and potatoes!

Even though we each had a hardy helping, we still had plenty of leftovers! The potatoes really fill it out and add to the amount of servings the recipe yields. Not every family eats leftovers, but my family does (who am I kidding, just Hubs eats the leftovers), so if there is extra at the end, that’s always a plus! I will definitely be making this dish again.

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 “Buttery” Crusted Beef Pot Pie p. 220
DRESS IT DOWN/MAKE IT A MEAL Mashed Potato Beef Cottage Pie

Note: This blog series, Cooking With Joy, is meant to be a companion to the Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller cookbook.  Most of the full recipes are only available in the cookbook.