Hey there Honey's and New-Bees!

Let’s talk about a common conundrum you will encounter once you start cooking – what to do with leftovers?

As much as I love having leftover roast sandwiches, they get boring pretty fast… but now I know that with a little bit of thought and creativity you can create some outstanding meals with only half the effort, using leftovers!

At this point ‘leftover’ meals have become some of our favorite meals! Seriously, I make this one pork roast  (see pork roast post) mostly to make into ‘Croque Madame’  sandwiches the next  morning!!!!!( OMG  sooooo good!)   I’ll get to that recipe in a later post as it’s a dish that takes a little more practice and skill… but I think you get the point, leftovers can be loads of fun once you know what to do with them!

My go-to recipe for leftover roast is a version of a french dish called an “Hache Parmentier”, which is essentially a “beefed up” shepherds pie (but sooooooo much better!!!). Chop up some veggies and leftover roast,  stew it in a little homemade gravy, then toss it into a casserole dish, smother it with mashed potatoes, bake it and VOILA you’ve made yourself one of the best leftover meals!!!  😊

For this post I used veggies that I already had on hand, so feel free to get creative with the ingredients using what you have on hand!

Hope you enjoy and please write in the comments how it turned out!

Since your mashed potatoes are going to take the longest to cook, you want to start by making them first. So fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring it to a boil on your stove. While the water is heating, wash, peel, and chop up your potatoes (keep in mind that the smaller you chop your potatoes the quicker they will cook), then add them to the water once it’s boiling, and let them cook for about 15-20 minutes.

Now that your potatoes are cooking, you can focus on the rest of your prep work.

Take out your leftover roast and veggies, and chop everything up.

For my veggies I always like to use onions, peppers, and celery , but feel free to add any additional veggies like spinach, zucchini and/or mushrooms etc., – remember the point of leftover love is to use what you already have on hand 🙂

Now that everything is washed, chopped, and prepped, take out a large sauté pan, pre-heat it  for a minute or two, then add a your unsalted butter, and sauté your veggies until your onions are translucent, then add your beef.

Once your beef has warmed up, sprinkle some flour into your pan making sure to coat everything evenly with it, then let the flour cook for about 5 minutes (until it gives off a ‘toasted’ aroma), then gradually add your stock. Bring your stock to a simmer, stirring consistently until your stock has thickened, then transfer it to your pie plate or casserole dish. Alternatively, you can make individual pies by dividing your meat into 6 deep ramekins – this is a really nice touch if you are hosting.

By now your potatoes should be soft enough to mash, so remove them from the stove, drain the water, then transfer them to a large mixing bowl.  While your potatoes are still warm, add a good amount of room temperature butter and some salt (as desired), and start mashing your potatoes, gradually adding your milk, cheese and lastly whip in your egg.

Top your meat with your mashed potatoes and transfer your dish into the oven to bake at 350ºF for 45 minutes.

Once out of the oven let your shepherd’s pie cool for about 10 minutes, serve and enjoy!