Pumpkin Shepards Pie

Mashed Butternut Squash and YamTopping:

• 1 butternut squash, cut in half and seeded
• ½ Tbs olive oil
• ½ tsp salt, plus an extra pinch for the squash
• Pinch white pepper, plus an extra pinch for the squash
• ½ tsp chopped thyme, plus an extra pinch for the squash
• ½ tsp chiffonade fresh sage, plus an extra pinch for the squash
• 3 lbs gold potatoes, sliced into 1 inch thick pieces
• ¼ cup coconut cream
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder

Meat filling ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 cups small dice carrots
• 1 cup small dice celery
• 1 medium onion small dice
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped fine
• 1 lb ground organic beef (not lean)
• 1 lb ground organic turkey (not lean)
• ¾ tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 Tbs GF flour or arrow root for thickening
• 4 Tbs tomato past Bionaturae
• 1 Tbs apple cider Vinegar
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 ½ cups chopped tomatoes or use Bionaturae chopped tomatoes in a can- my personal favorite
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock

Start by making the mashed butternut squash topping:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cover baking sheet with parchment or foil.
3. Cut butternut squash in half, rub on olive oil, sprinkle with good salt, white pepper, dried thyme (crumble as you go), and sage. Rub mixture into the squash.
4. Place the squash, cut sides down, onto baking sheet, roasting for 45 minutes, until soft and you can easily pierce with a fork. Set aside once done.
5. Cut 4 yams or sweet potatoes in half- pierce with a fork, rub with butter, sprinkle with good salt.
6. Place on baking sheet (covered with parchment or foil) cut side down, and roast until you can easily stab the potatoes with a fork- 20-25 minutes.
7. Once squash and tubers are done- scoop flesh out of shell/skin into a mixing bowl to mash.
8. You should have roughly 1.5 quarts of product to mash with ¼-1/2 cup whole coconut cream, 1 tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp salt, wee pinch ground white pepper, and mash. Set aside. (whole fat diets- use cream cheese and whole cream with butter)

Shepherd’s pie meat filling:

1. Put 2 tsp of olive oil in your medium-sized heavy bottom pot or dutch oven, medium-high flame- add carrots. Sauté carrots for 1 minute, adding diced onions, celery and garlic, mix and sauté for 1 minute (do not over cook– you want a nice texture, keeping veg aldente is lovely).
2. Reduce the heat to medium, add the ground beef and turkey to the pot and mix breaking it up into smaller pieces. Top the meat with ¾ tsp pepper, 1 tsp of salt, and 1 tsp of dried thyme. Mix and cook until the meat is browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Add 1 Tbs of flour or ½ tspn arrow root to meat and mix well.
4. ADD ALL of the following ingredients together- 4 Tbs of tomato paste, 1 Tbs of apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp of onion powder, a pinch of salt and mix well. Add 1.5 cup of chopped tomatoes, to this, stirring to combine all ingredients (if you need to add a little of your chicken stock to this, you can. Then add this mixture to your meat, siring to incorporate.
5. Then add 1.5 cups of chicken stock broth and simmer until the sauce reduces to a gravy, about 5-7 minutes.
6. Pour the shepherd’s pie filling into a large pan, 9 in x 13 in. and top with mashed butternut squash topping, using a spatula to evenly spread it out.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

All recipes property of Cultivating Good Inc./Chef LDD