Turkey Sweet-Potato Shepherd's Pie

I was inspired by Carole's mini-turkey-meatloaves a week or so ago and had been thinking about making something similar, when my dear friend Peggi-Jean mentioned that she'd also made turkey/veggie/mashed potato cupcakes or muffins that same week and they were totally delicious. So as not to be a complete copycat of Carole (accidental alliteration), I figured I'd use PJ's recipe, which had originally been posted on Foodbuzz. Sadly for us, however, I had no success finding them in their archives and by that point PJ had flitted off to NYC for a crazy girls-gone-wild weekend so I had to resort to Rachael Ray's version instead. The verdict here on the homefront was that this one was on the bland side... a common refrain lately so I'm going to have to work on the seasoning side of things... and since we're all lamb lovers, we'll likely return to that in the future for traditional shepherd's pie. But I won't give up on PJ's cupcakes once she makes it back to TO and gives up the elusive recipe.

Turkey Sweet-Potato Shepherd's Pie
adapted from Rachael Ray
serves 4

2/ lb sweet potatos, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
1 large carrot, diced
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 cup peas
1 cup turkey or chicken broth
1 tbsp flour
a few dashes Worchestershire sauce
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice

In a large saucepan, combine the sweet potatoes and enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, salt the water and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a deep skillet or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil, add the turkey and cook, breaking up with a spoon. Stir in the onion, carrots, celery and salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the meat mixture and cook for 2 to 3 minutes and then add the chicken broth and Worchestershire sauce. Stir and allow to thicken, about 5 minutes. Add the peas and remove from the heat.

Mash the sweet potatoes with the butter and season with salt and pepper. In individual ramekins or a larger casserole dish, top the turkey with the sweet potato and then sprinkle with cheese. Bake until the cheese is completely melted, about 5 minutes.

Rest of the week

Nov 30 Ordered Thai food for early celebration of Austin's birthday; molten lava chocolate birthday cakes

Dec 1 Cheese on toast due to crazy night of parent-teacher interviews

Dec 2 Turkey shepherd's pie