Jessy Delfino's Blog

Delicious Home-Made Faux-Meat Shepherd's Pie Recipe

This is inspired by a blurb I dropped on Facebook which resulted in part is it cool to be vegetarian-or-not debate, part goof-off, part cooking chat. One person inquired about my recipe, so here it is.

It's a good recipe. I love Shepherd's pie and it's one thing I miss, being a vegetarian, but the alternative I came up with makes
a great second choice and satisfies my cravings.

If you've never had Shepherd's Pie before, it's basically a mashed potatoes, meat and corn lasagna-type or casserole kind of dish. Layers of yum.

I make a very, very simple Shepherd's Pie. I use home-made mashed potatoes made from new red potatoes as the crust.

Basically, I start by washing the potatoes well and cutting them into quarters, leaving the skin on. I put them in a large pot of boiling water. While they are boiling, I get to work on the "meat". Since I don't eat meat, I instead either use Morning Star fake meat crumbles which are wicked fuckin' good, or I get canned fake duck from my local faux-dega (chinese corner store). I get 2 cans at about $1.40 a pop. The duck has to be cooked separately in its' own pan, first. I drain the water and cut it up into smaller pieces, then dump it in the pan with a little olive oil, a little brown sugar, a little salt and pepper and squeeze o lemon. I let it fry up for awhile until it's brown and crispy. By then, the potatoes are boiled, so I drain the water out of those and mash 'em up, adding a little rice milk (I don't drink straight cow boob juice, though I can't abandon cheese just yet), a little salt, a few tablespoons of olive oil, and tons of fresh ground pepper.

Next, I get out the ol' rectangular lasagna pan, though a round or square one will do just fine! I line the pan with mashed potatoes like I'm making a pie crust. I then put the duck down on the bottom of the pie layer. I add a thick layer of nuts -- almonds do okay, walnuts, or mixed crumbled nuts. Peanuts suck and I try to never, ever eat them whole or in pieces, under any circumstances (though I can't get enough peanut butter, reeses pieces, peanut butter m&ms, peanut butter cookies or brownies, etc. I also love peanut sauce used in thai cooking, but McDonald's sundaes with peanuts can go take a flying fuck, and in general I try to never, ever eat at McDonalds) but they'll work for this if that's all you have or if you love them.

Next, on top of the mashed potatoes, fake duck or Morning Star crumbles and nuts, I add a handful of cheese, sprinkled on so it will melt down and into the yummy goodness. I cover the bastard up with a final layer of mashed potatoes, sprinkle some more fresh ground pepper on top of that bitch and stick in the oven to bake for about half an hour at 350 degrees.

While it's baking, I make up a pitcher of pineapple margaritas or extra filthy dirty olive martinis and I drink a tasty cold beverage while I'm waiting for dinner to finish.

Huzzah!