The Scoop
A festive twist on classic Shepherd's Pie with sweet potatoes and pork sausage.
Everything really should be dressed up fancy to embrace the holidays, even your dinner! A few quick changes to your traditional Shepard's pie will transform it into this Holiday Shepherd's Pie, a fantastically festive flavor fountain! Caramel-y sweet potatoes mingle with rich butter and sharp parmesan for a wonderfully creamy and fluffy top, nestled atop a succulent pork sausage and sunny corn mixture, brightened with tomatoes and other garden veggies. You might actually feel a little underdressed sitting next to Holiday Shepherd's Pie this year!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes, skin-on and cut into thirds
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated, plus more, to taste, shredded for garnish
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, plus more, to taste
- 1 pound ground pork sausage, can substitute ground beef or half ground beef and half ground pork sausage
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cups mushrooms, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots mix
- fresh rosemary leaves, optional, to taste, for garnish
Directions
- Add the sweet potatoes to a pot of salted, cold water.
- Place the pot on the stovetop and bring the water to a boil.
- Cook the sweet potatoes until they are tender, about 20 minutes.
- Drain the sweet potatoes and cool until they are cool enough to handle.
- Remove and discard the sweet potato skins.
- In a large bowl, add the sweet potato flesh, the butter, 1/4 cup of the grated parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper, and mash to combine. Set the mashed sweet potatoes aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Lightly coat six to eight individual casserole dishes with nonstick spray.
- In a large skillet over medium-high, add the ground pork and cook, while crumbling, until it is no longer pink, about 5-8 minutes.
- Drain the fat from the skillet.
- Transfer the cooked meat to a plate and wipe the skillet clean.
- In the same skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil.
- Add the onion and the mushrooms to the oil and cook until tender, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add in the broth, the tomatoes and their juices, the dried rosemary, and the Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine.
- Bring the broth mixture to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until thickened.
- Add the cooked pork, the corn, and the peas and carrots mix to the broth mixture and stir to combine.
- Taste the pork mixture for seasoning, adding the extra salt and the extra pepper as needed, and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
- Divide the pork mixture evenly among the prepared casserole dishes.
- Spread an even amount of the mashed sweet potatoes over the pork mixture in the casserole dishes.
- Place the baking dishes on a large baking sheet.
- Bake uncovered until the tops are lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes.
- Serve garnished with the extra shredded parmesan and the fresh rosemary leaves.
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