Cast Iron Skillet Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherd’s Pie is one of my ultimate comfort foods. I have so many fond memories of my mom making a huge casserole dish of it it after Thanksgiving or Christmas, when she had lots of creamy leftover mashed potatoes to use up. Since it’s neither Thanksgiving or Christmas and tragically, I don’t have any leftover mashed potatoes, I made this smaller scale version to fit my cast iron skillet. The lazy cook in me loves that I can cook almost the entire meal in the skillet (except for the mashed potatoes), and honestly, I just love the way food looks in my skillet.

To up the ante on this humble dish, I decided to pipe on the mashed potatoes with a star tip on my silicone piping bag. This is a totally optional and unnecessary step that I added on to make it look extra inviting, so you can totally just spread the mashed potatoes on top with a large spoon, but if you’re making it for someone you want to impress, I *highly* suggest the extra step.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon cooking oil
• 1 package ground beef
• 1 can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 medium sized yellow onion, diced

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Boil potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. You should be able to easily stab them with a fork. Drain water and add in milk and butter, mashing potatoes until smooth and creamy.
2. Preheat oven to 375° F.
3. Heat the oil in a cast-iron skillet. Add in ground meat and onions, cooking until meat is no longer pink.
4. Add in Cream of Mushroom soup, stirring to mix throughly, and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Sprinkle corn, peas, and carrots on top of meat mixture. Remove from heat.
6. Using a star tipped silicone piping bag, pipe mashed potatoes in concentric circles around the skillet, starting with the outer edge. Continue piping until entire surface is covered in mashed potatoes. OR, thickly spread mashed potatoes on top of meat and vegetables until covered.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until tops of mashed potatoes have begun to crisp up and turn golden.