Turkey Shepard’s Pie with Roasted Cauliflower

Whenever you look at a recipe, the steps may seem long and cumbersome at first.

Read through them once to understand what you’ll be doing overall and then break it to in simpler steps:

1- cook the meat & veggies by sauting and adding flavor

2- prepare the cauliflower topping by roasting and then blending

3- combine it all and bake

Turkey Shepard’s Pie with Roasted Cauliflower 

~ 1 lb ground turkey breast

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, chopped

4 carrots, diced

4 stalks celery, diced

1 package mushrooms, diced

1/2 cup cooking Sherry, red wine, or stock

1 heaping tablespoon Better Than Bouillon Beef Seasoning

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 head cauliflower, broken into small florets

1 tablespoon olive oil

pinch of kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 cup Fairlife skim milk

1 teaspoon butter

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425.

In a large non-stick skillet, brown the turkey meat until fully cooked {can add a touch of olive oil or stock to the pan if needed}. Remove from pan and set aside.

In the same skillet, add the veggies (garlic through mushrooms). Saute until the veggies become soft, stirring often to not burn the garlic. Splash in the liquid of choice {sherry, stock, or water}  and stir in the Better than Beef seasoning & Worcestershire sauce. Turn heat down to medium low and allow to simmer.  Sprinkle in the corn starch and stir everything together to thicken the liquid and create a slight sauce to the mixture.

Add the meat back into the veggie mixture, cover and let simmer on low while preparing the cauliflower {can turn off and leave covered on the stove until ready to pour into baking dish later}.

On a baking sheet, spread out the cauliflower florets. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss well to coat the cauliflower. Roast in the oven until the cauliflower is charred (about 30-45 minutes).

Turn the oven down to 350.

In a blender, combine the cauliflower in a blender with the milk, butter, and parmesan cheese. Puree until you reach your preferred consistency of “mashed potatoes”.

Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray. Pour in the meat + veggie mixture. Top with the blended cauliflower mixture. Sprinkle on another spoon of Parmesan cheese.

Bake for approx. 30 minutes until the cheese is golden brown (may need to broil at the last couple minutes to make the top golden brown.

Variations:

Vegetarian: Replace the turkey with lentils and substitute with Better Than Bouillon Veggie seasoning.

Potato lovers: Use half potatoes, half cauliflower for the pureed topping.

Convenience praisers: Use a store-bought frozen cauliflower mash in place of roasting and pureeing your own cauliflower. Simply warm it in the microwave according to the package instructions before adding to the meat + veggies and roasting everything together.

 

~ Becca ~