Delicious portioned servings of traditional Sheperds pie with an Italian twist. Creamy comfort food without breaking your weight maintenance stride by being made in a cupcake tray. Comfort food with responsibility! The recipe can be adjusted to satisfy any pallet. I use sweet Italian sausage but ground beef or other proteins can be utilized. Cheeses can be altered and voila, comfort in a cup!
Ingredients: [‘mixed vegetables’, ‘sweet italian sausage’, ‘garlic’, ‘oregano’, ‘cayenne pepper’, ‘sugar’, ‘salt’, ‘pepper’, ‘mozzarella cheese’, ‘sharp cheddar cheese’, ‘fresh parmesan cheese’, ‘riesling wine’, ‘mashed potatoes’, ‘pie crusts’, ‘vegetable oil’]
Quantity of Ingredients: [“1 (18 ounce) bag chopped mixed vegetables (String beans, carrots and corn)”,”5 -6 sweet Italian sausage”,”2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic”,”2 teaspoons oregano”,” cayenne pepper”,”1 teaspoon sugar”,” salt”,” pepper”,”1/2 cup mozzarella cheese”,”3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese”,”1/4 cup shredded fresh parmesan cheese”,”1 cup riesling wine or 1 cup other sweet white wine”,”2 cups prepared mashed potatoes, seasoned and buttered “,”2 sheets pillsbury pie crusts, thawed (This is one box)”,”2 tablespoons vegetable oil”]
Number of Servings: 12
Steps: [‘Pre-heat oven to 400°F Spray 12 cup muffin tray with Pam or other non stick spray. Also make sure that your mashed potatoes are pre-heated, warm will do!’, ‘Remove sausage from casings and brown using the vegetable oil. Make sure pieces are small and crumbled.’, ‘While sausage is cooking, unroll pie crusts and use 2.5-3 inch round cookie cutter. Press each round into the cupcake tray places. You may have to roll out leftovers to get last two rounds. Be sure to save any leftover crust dough to use as topper decorations.’, ‘Once sausage is browned, add frozen vegetables until cooked and add in the garlic, oregano and wine, mixing for 5 minutes. Then utilize cayenne, salt and pepper to taste.’, ‘Mix into meat mixture the mozzarella, chedder and parmesan cheeses. Should be creamy texture. This is where you can substitute your favorite cheeses for the taste you desire! This can make these fancier or blending the flavors that you want:).’, “Using a slotted spoon, fill the pie crust rounds in your tray with the meat/cheese/vegetable mixture. Make sure you fill them to the top but don’t overfill as they might fall apart.”, ‘Fill a plastic sandwich bag with the mashed potatoes and snip off a small corner on the bottom of the bag. This is an easy pastry bag and allows you to squeeze the mashed potatoes in a swirl on the top of the top of the pies. I personally love a spiral but I am sure that there are people way more creative than me who could do remarkable artistry with the mashed!’, ‘Sprinkle lightly with salt and cheddar cheese.’, “I made little twists out of the leftover pie crust dough but it isn’t necessary. Do whatever you want here!”, ‘Place uncovered in the oven for around twenty minutes. Allow to cool and gently use a knife to pop them right out of the tray.’, ‘Enjoy with a lovely white wine!’]