PAM-Tastic Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

1 pound each ground lamb and ground beef

1/2 pound carrots, diced and steamed

2 celery stalks, diced

1 large yellow onion, diced

3 large cloves garlic, minced

12 oz your favorite tomato sauce

4 large potatoes, peeled

2 cups water

1/2 cup milk

3T butter

1T beef broth concentrate
1T each parsley, thyme, and sage

1/2 tsp Marmite (optional)

Black pepper to taste

Boil your potatoes until done, about 15 minutes, then drain and mash them with 2T butter* and your milk.  Set aside.

Cook your beef and lamb, until no longer pink.  Drain any liquid fat at the bottom of the pan.  Set aside.

In a saucepan, brown your onions and garlic in the remaining 1T butter.   Add all remaining ingredients, and simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes, until thickened.  Add this to your meat mixture.

Transfer your meat mixture to an oven-safe dish.  Top with mashed potatoes.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes, or until bubbly and the top of the potatoes has browned.

*  Note that most recipes call for an entire stick of butter in your potatoes.  I tend to reduce this to save on fat and calories, but it sure makes a yummy topping!  Also, since all the ingredients are cooked before they go into the oven, you could choose to just brown the entire dish under the broiler, then serve.

Another note would be, you can easily substitute 4 cups prepared TVP or crumbled tempeh for the meat, add a few cooked turnips to the mix, ditch the beef broth concentrate, and increase your Marmite to 1 tsp, for a lovely vegetarian shepherd's pie.