Paleo Shepherd's Pie

By erinstargirl

This Paleo Shepherd's Pie kills Two Birds with One Pie, with two delicious mash toppings!

Ingredients

• 5-6 organic sage leaves,
• 1 TB lard, tallow, or rendered bacon fat
• 2 large organic sweet potatoes {peeled or not}
• 1 head organic cauliflower
• 3 additional cloves organic garlic
• 3 sprigs fresh organic rosemary, chopped
• 2 TB non gmo nutritional yeast *optional*
• 1 tablespoon lard, tallow, or rendered bacon fat
• 1 organic red or golden beet, scrubbed clean, top removed, and chopped
• 1 organic yellow onion, chopped
• 4 organic carrots, chopped
• 4 sprigs fresh organic thyme, chopped
• 4 cloves organic garlic, pressed
• 1 pound grass-finished ground beef {another option is a 2:1 mixture of ground beef and ground liver}
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
• 1 additional TB lard, tallow, or rendered bacon fat
• Sea salt

Details

Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 120mins

Preparation

Step 1

Mis en place {have all your vegetables chopped, ingredients out, utensils ready, double boiler, pot, and skillet ready on the stove top, etc.} - You can either prep the mash mixtures ahead of time or multitask and cook everything simultaneously. The timing has worked out for me each time I've made this dish as long as I have everything prepped and ready to go before I begin cooking!

Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease a 13x9 glass baking dish with fat of choice.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat with fat of choice, fry sage leaves until crisp, just a few seconds. Transfer with a fork to paper towels and sprinkle with sea salt. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add sweet potatoes. Cook until fork tender, strain, and mash. Season with salt.

Meanwhile, in a double boiler heat the cauliflower and 3 whole cloves of garlic over simmering water until the cauliflower is fork tender. Remove to a food processor fit with a steel blade and process along with sea salt, rosemary, and optional nutritional yeast. Blend until smooth.

Saute carrots and beet in a large cast iron skillet until they start to get tender.

Add the onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes. Create an open in the center of the skillet, and add the ground. Add thyme and season with sea salt, continue to break up the meat as it browns. Stir in with the vegetables until brown.

Create a small circle again, add a tablespoon of your fat of choice and the arrowroot powder. Stir together and let the arrowroot cook down into the fat, making a faux roux of sorts. Incorporate into the meat and vegetable mixture and cook another few minutes.

Remove from heat and spoon into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

Spread the mashed sweet potato mixture across half of the pan and the cauliflower mash on the other half. Arrange fried sage leaves atop the pie.

Bake for 20-30 minutes to let the flavors meld. Serve immediately.