Turkeyherder's Pie

Name: Turkeyherder's Pie
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 onion, chopped; 1 green or red sweet pepper, chopped; 1 cup fresh mushrooms, cut into quarters; 2 cups mixed vegetables, cooked or frozen (diced carrots, peas, corn, zucchini, broccoli, green beans – whatever you have hanging around); 2 cups diced leftover turkey; 3/4 cup leftover gravy, or tomato sauce (or some of each); 1/4 cup parsley, chopped; salt, to taste; black pepper, to taste; 2 cups mashed potatoes, (or more, if you have it); pinch paprika

Makes4 servings

Photo: dawnnakaya/Flickr

Jared stands beside me as I throw everything from the refrigerator into the pan. He is clearly dubious - he's not a casserole kind of guy. Except when it comes to shepherd's pie, which he inexplicably loves. And this version is even better than the original.

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 green or red sweet pepper, chopped
1 cup fresh mushrooms, cut into quarters
2 cups mixed vegetables, cooked or frozen (diced carrots, peas, corn, zucchini, broccoli, green beans – whatever you have hanging around)
2 cups diced leftover turkey
3/4 cup leftover gravy, or tomato sauce (or some of each)
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
2 cups mashed potatoes, (or more, if you have it)
pinch paprika

Instructions

In a large skillet, cook the onion, green or red pepper and mushrooms over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender. Add the rest of the vegetables - frozen or leftover cooked - and sauté for about 5 minutes. Now dump in the diced turkey and the gravy or tomato sauce, and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring once in a while. Have your eager young turkeyherder sprinkle in the chopped parsley. Stir, then remove from heat and spoon the mixture into an 8 or 9 in. (20 or 22 cm) square baking pan.
If you're using leftover mashed potatoes that have been refrigerated, beat in a little additional milk or broth to soften them, then spread evenly over the turkey mixture in the pan. If your child is helping you, hand him a fork and have him do wonderfully artistic things to the top of the mashed potatoes with it. Sprinkle lightly with paprika, then bake at 350F (180C) for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden and the turkey mixture is bubbling.
Note: If you absolutely can't stand to eat another turkey concoction right now, freeze this casserole before baking. One day in the future you'll be happy you did. (Thaw it completely, then bake as above.)

This article was originally published on Oct 01, 1999

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