I’m all about taking classic comfort foods and giving them a fresh twist. Rethinking the classics helps me keep things interesting and break out of dinner ruts! With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I wanted to give a traditional shepherd’s pie a makeover. This dish is festive to serve for the holiday, but also makes for a cozy and hearty weeknight dinner too (you can prep them in advance and bake them off when you’re ready to serve). I used turkey to lighten the base of the recipe up a bit, and baked the filling inside potato skins for a twice-baked-potato style shepherd’s pie — scroll down for the full recipe!
Shepherds Pie Twice Baked Potatoes.
Ingredients
- 3 Large Potatoes
- ½ Large Yellow Onion, diced
- 1 Large Carrot, diced
- 2 Cloves of garlic, minced
- 1lb of Ground Turkey
- 1 Tbsp. of Savory Herbs (thyme, rosemary), minced
- ¼ Cup of Chicken Broth
- 3 Tbsp. of Tomato Paste
- 2 Tbsp. of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp. of Flour
- ½ Cup of Peas
- 4 Tbsp. of Butter
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees; clean potatoes well and pierce with a fork, and then place in the oven on a rimmed baking sheet and cook for 45 minutes.
- While potatoes are baking, heat a skillet over medium heat and combine 1 tbsp. of butter with the diced onions and carrots and minced garlic. Cook until the onions begin to soften and then add the ground turkey and herbs to the pan.
- Continue to cook until the turkey is browned and cooked through. Add the chicken broth to deglaze the pan, scraping up any bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Stir in tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and flour until the ingredients are well combined and begin to thicken. Fold in the peas and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Remove cooked potatoes from the oven, slice in half and scoop out the inner cooked potato into a mixing bowl, leaving approximately ½ inch of a rim around the potato to help it keep some structure. Return the cooked potato skins back to the baking sheet, and add remaining 3 tbsp. of butter, salt and pepper to the mixing bowl full of the warm potatoes. Use a fork to mash the potatoes and butter together.
- Scoop the cooked turkey and vegetable filling into the hollowed-out potato skins, and then top each one with a heaping spoonful of the mashed potatoes. Repeat until are filled; return the baking tray to the oven and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
- Serve warm and garnish with additional fresh herbs if desired.
