Comfort food: Village Idiot Pie

The Boy went back to his university yesterday, so I was feeling gloomy. Comfort food was definitely needed to counteract both the vacuum he left and the blustery winter wind outside. Something hot and old-fashioned…Village Idiot Pie to the rescue.

I’m a big fan of shepherd’s pie, and a year or so ago I ran across an easy version named “Simple Shepherd Pie.” This was the image that immediately came to mind:

Nothing better than a Monty Python sketch to cheer me up.

I modified the recipe to suit me, and couldn’t help but change its name. With a side of cauliflower cheese last night, this dinner with just The Husband, Middle Sister, and me made a slight dent in the gloom.

Village Idiot Pie

1 1/2 lb ground beef
mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, diced
salt, to taste
garlic, to taste
8 oz frozen peas and carrots, cooked
beef gravy (I always freeze the extra gravy after I make roast beef, to have on hand for this recipe – but a jar of prepared gravy will do)
mashed potatoes (I’m all about shortcuts, so I prepare a bag of Ore Ida Steam and Mash – it only takes 15 minutes to make a perfectly decent dish of mashed potatoes)
paprika

Brown ground beef, mushrooms, onion, and garlic together. Salt as desired. Place in bottom of round casserole dish. Mix in peas and carrots. Pour gravy into dish and stir gently. Top with prepared mashed potatoes and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 25 minutes at 375.

With only three of us in the household now, we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. And I can get to work on getting over the empty spaces at the dinner table.