One Dish Wonder

Writing again late at night, but this is a quick one, anyway :)

Everyone in my family remembers shepherd's pie.  It was one of Momma's leftovers dishes and pretty simple--ground beef, frozen peas, condensed tomato soup, mashed potatoes. Bake it to warm. Dish it up, salt and pepper to taste :)  Ahhh, memories.  I'm not sure how much she made each time, but when I make it, T and I easily eat up half of the recipe in one dinner.  How did she stretch her recipe for a family of 7?!  Maybe she used bigger pans...

Anyway, I've been "experimenting" with this recipe of late.  I added onion because I love onion :) it's completely optional in the recipe below.  I didn't have tomato soup one day (I know, Daddy--the SHOCK! [Momma and Daddy always had canned tomato soup on hand.. it was one of their staples]) and so I used some canned tomatoes I had.  Tonight, I didn't have any mashed potatoes ready, and figured dicing them would be less mess than mashing them (certainly less to clean out of the pan).

Really, though, the possibilities are endless--change up the vegetables, carrots instead of peas, pearl onions with the ground beef, a layer of scrambled egg, different potatoes, cheese on top, etc.  Experiment with your own ideas!

So here it is, my small twist on
Momma's Shepherd's Pie

1 pound ground beef (or turkey, your preference)
1/4 onion, chopped (or 1 T dried onion)
2 T flour (or arrowroot powder)
1 pound bag frozen peas
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 c chopped parsley
leftover potatoes (if you have leftover potatoes--diced, mashed, fries, hashbrowns, etc., this really is a one-dish meal.  You'll need 2-3 c potatoes [chop the french fries into smaller pieces]. If, like me, you don't have any leftovers, follow the instructions in brackets)
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brown the beef in a large oven-proof skillet.  Add onion and saute until tender (or re-constituted).  Turn off heat, add flour and stir to combine.

While beef is browning, [bring a pot of water to a boil. Par-boil 3-4 diced potatoes until barely fork-tender (5-8 minutes).  Drain in a colander, rinse with cold water, and] toss potatoes with 1/4 c chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Set aside.

Layer the vegetables over the beef (in the skillet) in this order:
frozen peas
tomatoes
potatoes

Place the whole skillet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until juices are bubbling.

Serve warm.