Viola’s Sheppards Pie

While making supper Friday I snapped some pictures with my iPhone.  I thought I would share with you this version of my mom’s shepherds pie 🙂 Traditionally the topping is mashed potatoes but to mix things up a bit my mom decided to slice thin potatoes and just cook them that way with butter and salt and pepper.

First off cook 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef with salt and pepper to taste with 1 clove of garlic (or 2 if you really like garlic) finely minced.

I got so caught up in my potatoes I forgot to get a shot of the corn! I know corn is so exciting lol.

 

Take a can of cream corn and layer that on top of your ground beef along with two cans of regular corn and spread that layer even as well. This brings a lot of moisture to the dish as well as flavor. Who doesn’t like corn right?

Next take 4 potatoes or so (mine are puny so I have a few more) and roughly peel them. Now slice them into thin slices. This is where I break out my mandoline to make short work of this process 🙂

Layer your finely sliced potatoes on top of the corn layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper and a drizzle of EVOO

Hmm because I’m french I need to add butter right here!

and cheese…..(flakes of Parmigiano-Reggiano)

Ok into a 425 Degree oven it goes for 40-45 minutes till the potatoes are tender.

Voila:

I served this with a nice light herb salad with fresh tomatoes

Bon Appetite! This is so easy to make and delicious I hope you guys try it out 🙂

• Servings: 6-8
• Time: 1hr
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 cloves of garlic minced.
• 1 can of cream corn
• 2 cans of regular corn
• 4 medium size potatoes
• 1 tbsp of EVOO
• 4 tablespoons of butter cut up in pieces
• 1/2 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a large skillet brown your ground beef with salt and pepper to taste, along with your garlic. Layer this into a 9X12 pan.  Layer the cream corn next then the 2 cans of regular corn.

Roughly peel your potatoes and slice thinly.  Layer this on top of the corn add your salt, pepper, EVOO, butter and cheese.

Place in oven for 40-45 min (till potatoes are fork tender) Let cool for 10 min and enjoy!

 

Crockpot Lazy Man Cabbage Rolls

I Love Cabbage Rolls!! But they are a lot of work. This recipe is fantastic! Same great taste without the hard work of rolling them.

Crockpot Lazy Man Cabbage Rolls

• Servings: 8
• Time: 5-6hrs(crockpot)
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

• head of cabbage chopped up
• 1 lb of ground beef
• 1 container of tomato juice
• 1 small can of concentrated tomato soup
• 3/4 cup of rice
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic seasoning
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion

Directions:

Preheat your crockpot to high and add the ground beef, salt and pepper to taste, garlic seasoning and chopped onion. Let that cook for aprox 30 minutes then come back and break up the ground beef with a fork. Add the cabbage, tomato juice and tomato soup to the crockpot  and stir well. Turn down your crockpot to low and simmer till cabbage is softened. I usually let it cook at least 4 hours. Once your cabbage has softened add your rice and stir well. Once rice is cooked through your done! The rice usually takes about 30-45min, then I just turn the crockpot off. It will stay warm for a long time!

Easy Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
• 2 tablespoons of onion flakes
• 1 tsp of garlic seasoning (like powder or seasoning if you only have garlic salt then you will need to decrease or omit the kosher salt)
• 1 tsp of kosher salt
• 1 tsp of freshly grounded black pepper
• 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 large can of regular spaghetti sauce (I use ragu….costco baby)
• 1/4 cup of ketchup ( I use this to add some sweetness as well as the vinegar in the ketchup add a nice acidity and brightness to the sauce)
• 1 tbsp of dried oregano
• 1 tbsp of dried parsley flakes
• 1 tbsp of dried basil
• 3-4 bay leaves (if you have any not crucial but nice touch to the sauce)
• 1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

Pre heat  your crock pot to high and add the ground beef, onion flakes, garlic seasoning, kosher salt, and pepper.  Add a bit of water to the crock pot: small splash like 1/4 cup.  After a 1/2 hour your meat should be nearly cooked. This may very from crock pot to crock pot. Once the meat is brown use a fork and break up the ground beef till crumbly.

Now add  the rest of the ingredients, stir well, and turn your crock pot down to low.  Allow to simmer for 5-6 hours.

Serve over pasta and enjoy 🙂

 

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

• Servings: 10
• Time: 5-6 hours
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
• 2 tablespoons of onion flakes
• 1 tsp of garlic seasoning (like powder or seasoning if you only have garlic salt then you will need to decrease or omit the kosher salt)
• 1 tsp of kosher salt
• 1 tsp of freshly grounded black pepper
• 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 large can of regular spaghetti sauce (I use ragu….costco baby)
• 1/4 cup of ketchup ( I use this to add some sweetness as well as the vinegar in the ketchup add a nice acidity and brightness to the sauce)
• 1 tbsp of dried oregano
• 1 tbsp of dried parsley flakes
• 1 tbsp of dried basil
• 3-4 bay leaves (if you have any not crucial but nice touch to the sauce)
• 1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

Pre heat  your crock pot to high and add the ground beef, onion flakes, garlic seasoning, kosher salt, and pepper.  Add a bit of water to the crock pot: small splash like 1/4 cup.  After a 1/2 hour your meat should be nearly cooked. This may very from crock pot to crock pot. Once the meat is brown use a fork and break up the ground beef till crumbly.

Now add  the rest of the ingredients, stir well, and turn your crock pot down to low.  Allow to simmer for 5-6 hours.

Serve and enjoy!