Easy Shepherd's Pie

A casserole made with leeks, celery, peas, veal and cream of mushroom soup and topped with mashed potatoes.

I don't know much about shepherd's pie, but I know it is topped with mashed potatoes.  So any time I top a casserole (or hot dish) with mashed potatoes I call it shepherd's pie.  I think traditionally it's supposed to have lamb in it but that is not what I had.  I had left over veal roast that I used in this recipe and it was great.  A casserole is not a casserole, to me, with out cream of mushroom soup.  It's quick and easy and always tastes good.  Any vegetable would work in this shepherd's pie, you could easily use a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, but I had celery and peas.  I used leeks because they looked good in the store and I've always wanted to try them (this was my first time) but onions could be substituted.  That is one great thing about casseroles, you can use anything you want in them, they are quick, and they taste great.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 cup celery, chopped
2 leeks, white parts only (chopped)
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups veal, already cooked and chopped (substitute any kind of meat)
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
3 cups mashed potatoes

Chop the leeks, white part only and let soak in water to remove any sediment, then drain. 

Heat a large saute pan on medium low heat and melt about 1 Tbsp butter.  Cook the garlic in the butter for about 1 minute until soft and fragrant then add the leeks and celery.  Let sweat until leeks are translucent and celery softens (about 10-20 minutes).  Salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile prepare mashed potatoes how ever you like them.

When the leeks and celery are soft add the peas until they thaw and then add the veal mixing thoroughly.  Remove the veggies and veal into a large bowl and mix in the cream of mushroom soup (do not dilute).

Spread mixture into a buttered 8x8 inch baking dish and top with the mashed potatoes.  Bake in 350F oven for 30 minutes and then broil for a few minutes to get the top brown and crispy.  Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.  Serves 4-6.  Enjoy.

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Veal Roast

Slow cooked veal chuck roast with sweet onions and a mushroom gravy.

This is my very first veal roast.  Some friends were moving and cleaning out their freezer and I got a veal roast.  I can not claim credit for this dinner because my husband is the one who prepared it while I was away for the day.  He slow cooked it with beef broth, wine and sweet onions in the crock pot for 5 hours.  For our first veal roast it turned out great.  It was tender, flavorful, and amazing.  I would definitely make this again (if veal wasn't so expensive) it would make a great dinner for a special occasion.  With 5 pounds of roast we had plenty to eat for a few days and we even froze half.

Ingredients:

5 lb veal shoulder roast (boneless and tied)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp butter
1 Maui onion (sweet onion), large diced
1 cup beef broth
1 tsp thyme
1 pinch rosemary
5 oz white wine
1 cup dried mushroom slices, reconstituted
1/2 cup flour
2 Tbsp butter

Rub the veal roast generously with salt and pepper.  Sear on all sides in 2 Tbsp butter then place the roast in Crockpot/slowcooker.

Brown onions then add to crockpot.  Also add beef broth, thyme, rosemary, and white wine.  Cover and cook on low for about 5 hours.

Remove roast from cooking liquid, place in a pan and cover with foil to rest.  To the cooking liquid (in the crock pot) add the reconstituted mushrooms (we used shitake, but any would be good also fresh mushrooms would work too, just saute them first) and cook on high for 30 minutes.

In a skillet, melt 2 Tbsp butter and add the flour, stirring for a minute or to to make a roux.  Add the mushrooms and broth to the roux and simmer until gravey is desired thickness.

Serve veal sliced with gravy drizzled on top.  We served the veal with mashed potatoes and peas.  Another meal with the veal was an open faced sandwich.  Enjoy.

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