Easy Shepherd's Pie

This is a chill-chaser for those nights when you'd really like a fire to warm your feet and maybe your heart too.

Here are the ingredients and following, is what you do:

To begin:

1 onion, diced

3 carrots, diced

1 large clove of garlic, chopped

Kosher salt

Pepper

Red pepper flakes

Extra virgin olive oil

Drop about 2 generous tablespoons olive oil into a large, nonstick skillet. Throw in the diced onions, carrots, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, drop in a few red pepper flakes. Once the onions and carrots start to carmelize, drop in the chopped garlic. Allow this to carmelize for about five minutes on medium heat.

Okay.

1 red pepper, diced

paprika

1 TBSP Worceshershire sauce

2 lbs. ground chuck

Peas

Cream of celery soup

About 8 medium sized yukon gold potatoes

milk

Peel potatoes, cube and drop into boiling salted water. Allow them to cook for about 16 minutes. Drain them when finished. Have a large bowl with 4 TBSP unsalted butter, seasoned with salt and pepper ready. Once the potatoes are drained, drop them into the bowl with the butter, salt and pepper. Use a potato masher or a hand mixer to mash up the potatoes, adding milk as necessary.

Preheat oven to 350°.

In the meantime, drop your ground chuck into the pan with the onions and carrots. Reseason with salt and pepper. Throw the red pepper in, mix it all up. Once the meat is brown, drain off the grease and drop some paprika, and the Worcestershire sauce. Mix one can cream of celery soup to a half can of milk, mix together in a separate bowl, throw into the beef mixture.

Once your beef mixture is finished, grease a large casserole dish. Maybe a 2-quart, maybe a 9 x 11, depending on what kind of bakeware you own. Drop the beef mixture in, smooth it out, and drop the mashed potatoes atop, sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake for about 25 minutes.

Serve with a hot loaf of crusty sourdough bread and a nice green salad.

Enjoy!