Shepard's Pie Paleo Style

Shepard's Pie is one of my hubby's favorite dishes...he loves it! Traditional Shepard's Pie is not very Paleo friendly, in fact it is downright Paleo un-friendly :)

To keep my family from getting bored to tears with chicken (a Paleo staple), I started searching for Paleo versions of my fam's favorite recipes. I stumbled across Health-Bent..an awesome Paleo blog and there it was...Paleo Shepard's Pie. I have modified the original recipe (I can't help myself...I tweak every recipe I try). Here is my version and let me tell you...it was a huge hit! Chris loved it (had two helpings) and so did my kiddos...yes, even Mr. Picky Pants! My Tori girl had seconds too...made me know it was a keeper!

Shepard's Pie Paleo Style

1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced mushrooms
1/2 large red bell pepper, seeded & diced
1/2 sweet onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef (grass fed is best)
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper
1 cup chicken stock, plus 3 tbsp extra for cauliflower topping
1 tbsp potato flour*
1/2 can organic tomato sauce
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 egg
1 tbsp organic butter, melted



Steam cauliflower until tender, about 18-20 minutes. Drain and put into mixing bowl. Mash cauliflower with potato masher until smooth. Add egg, chicken stock, melted butter, generous pinch salt and 1/4 tsp each Italian seasoning and fresh pepper. Stir until well combined, set bowl aside.

Go ahead and preheat oven to 400 at this point.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add remaining veg and reduce heat to medium low. Cook veg until tender and onions are golden brown. Using a spoon, push veg to outside of pan and place ground beef in middle of pan. Break up beef with back of spoon and return heat to medium. Add Italian seasoning, a generous pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp fresh pepper. Cook until beef is no longer pink and well browned. Stir frequently so veg doesn't burn. Whisk together chicken stock and potato flour in a shallow bowl (don't worry about the lumps, they disappear during cooking) Add slurry and 1/2 can tomato sauce to meat & veg, stirring to combine and scraping all those brown bits of yumminess off bottom of pan. Remove from heat, taste for seasoning and add more salt & pepper to taste. Spoon mixture into a 3 qt casserole dish. Dollop mashed cauliflower over meat & veg and smooth evenly over the top with back of spoon.

Place in preheated oven and bake for 10 mintues. Turn oven to broil and bake 10 more minutes. Remove from oven and let sit 5-7 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

* Bob's Red Mill brand potato flour can be found in the baking aisle at HEB, Whole Foods, Kroger.