Shepherd's Pie

About

Low Carb Shepherd’s Pie is the perfect make-ahead comfort meal. All of the ingredients are layered into a casserole dish and topped with cheese, then baked together to perfection until the top is golden brown. Blanched cauliflower is blended into a creamy mash and layered into the bottom of the casserole dish. I love adding the mash to the bottom because you do not have to worry about spreading it perfectly over hot filling. Then a delicious filling made from sauteed onions, mushrooms, celery, and ground beef held together in a luscious gravy is poured on top of the cauliflower and then topped with creamy mozzarella cheese.

Why is the mash on the bottom?

The mash is on the bottom because it is much easier to spread it into the bottom of the pan instead of on top of hot ground beef and vegetable filling.

What is in the filling?

The filling consists of ground beef sauteed with mushrooms, celery, white onion, and beef stock thickened with arrowroot powder. The filling is seasoned with salt and bay leaf. Feel free to add fresh herbs like sprigs, rosemary, and thyme to the filling as it is thickening in the pan (then remove the sprigs before pouring it into the casserole dish).

Ingredients

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
8 oz mushrooms white raw
¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 medium – 2 1/2" diameter onion
4 medium – stalk – 7 1/2" to 8" long celery
¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
2 lb hamburger or ground beef, 85% lean
1 ¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
3 cup beef broth
1.667 tablespoon arrowroot powder
2 lb cauliflower
½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
3 tablespoon butter

Instructions

Preheat an oven to 350 F. Prepare a large pot with boiling water for the cauliflower. At the same time, start to prep the ingredients for the filling. DIce the white onion, slice the mushrooms (remove the stems) and slice the celery. Remove the stem and leaves from the cauliflower head and cut them into large chunks. Larger chunks prevent the cauliflower from absorbing too much water during the blanching process resulting in a more flavorful mash. Preheat an extra-large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add in the 2 tbsp olive oil and swirl the pan to coat. Add in the sliced mushrooms and cook until lightly browned. Salt them with ¼ tsp kosher salt.
Next, add in the white onion and celery. Cook until the vegetables are translucent. Salt the mixture with ¼ tsp kosher salt.
Add in the ground beef. Cook and crumble it until no longer pink. Add in 1 ¼ tsp kosher salt and stir well.
Add in the beef broth and the arrowroot powder and stir until thickened. Add a bay leaf (optional) to simmer in the broth. Allow the mixture to cool on the stove while you prepare the cauliflower.
Cook the cauliflower for around 1 minute in hot water (the water may not come up to a boil in this short amount of time). Look for the cauliflower to be translucent. It does not need to be overly soft.
Drain the cauliflower and then process it in a food processor in three batches, adding 1 tbsp butter to each batch.
Place each batch into the bottom of a 9” x 13” casserole dish. Add ½ tsp kosher salt to the cauliflower puree and mix it well, then spread it evenly.
Pour the beef mixture onto the cauliflower puree.
Then top it with the mozzarella cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and browned. The rest of the dish is ready to eat, so the cheese is the only part that needs to be cooked. Allow cooling slightly before serving.