By Spring is trying. Nebraska spring does not arrive. It attempts. It sends out a sixty-degree day like a scout, then retreats behind another cold front, then tries again with rain, then retreats again with sleet. This back-and-forth can last six weeks, and during those six weeks you do not put away your winter coat but you also carry sunglasses, because Nebraska spring is the season of both.
I drove through a mix of rain and snow outside North Platte this week that can only be described as the weather having an identity crisis. The truck handles it fine. I handle it fine. Eighteen years of driving through every kind of weather Nebraska can throw at you gives you a steadiness that has nothing to do with bravery and everything to do with repetition. I am not brave on the road. I am practiced.
At home the kids are in that late-winter stir-crazy mode where they have been inside too long and need to move. Justin especially. He vibrates when he is cooped up, like a motor idling too fast. His therapist says exercise helps, so Dave has been taking him to the Y on Saturday mornings to shoot hoops, and Justin comes home sweaty and calmer and eats lunch like a person who has expelled something that needed expelling.
I made my shepherd pie this week, which is a winter-to-spring bridge meal: warm enough for the cold nights, hearty enough for the long days that are starting to feel possible again. Ground beef browned with onion, mixed with peas, carrots, corn, and beef gravy, topped with mashed potatoes, baked at 400 until the potatoes are golden on top. It is a one-dish meal that feeds six people for under eight dollars and produces one dish to wash, which is the kind of math that makes a working mother weep with gratitude.
Josie asked if we could plant a garden this year. She is seven and has been learning about plants at school and has apparently decided she is a farmer. I said maybe, which in parent language means I will think about it and then probably do it because I cannot resist Josie enthusiasm about anything. Dave said he would build a raised bed, which is Dave language for I will build something. Tyler said he would help. We may be a gardening family by May. Stranger things have happened. I once cooked a pork roast in a truck on I-80. A garden is practically normal by comparison.
The shepherd’s pie I described up there—the one that got us through this week of weather that couldn’t decide what it wanted to be—that’s the recipe I’m sharing today. It’s the kind of meal that makes sense when the house is full of restless kids and the sky can’t commit to a season. One dish, one trip to the oven, one pan to wash, and everyone at the table goes quiet in the good way. If your spring is trying as hard as ours is, this is the recipe that meets it halfway.
Shepherd’s Pie with Baked Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 can (10.5 oz) beef gravy
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes. Place cubed potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Cook until fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well.
- Make garlic mashed potatoes. In the same pot, melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the drained potatoes and milk. Mash until smooth and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Brown the beef. While potatoes cook, brown the ground beef in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Drain excess fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan.
- Build the filling. Add diced onion and carrots to the beef and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Stir in the peas, corn, beef gravy, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder. Simmer for 3 minutes until everything is combined and heated through.
- Top with potatoes. Spread the mashed potatoes evenly over the meat filling, starting at the edges and working inward. Use a fork to create ridges across the top. Dot with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.
- Bake. Place the skillet in an oven preheated to 400°F and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the potato topping is golden brown on the peaks.
- Rest and serve. Let the pie cool for 5 minutes before serving straight from the skillet.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 420 | Protein: 26g | Fat: 20g | Carbs: 35g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 580mg