Cottage Pie - A New Take on Sheperd's Pie

My mother HATES mashed potatoes and will not eat them in anything. We rarely had them growing up and the only time I ever ate a Sheperd's Pie would be at a restaurant. So I was a little surprised when my Mom found a recipe in Everyday Food by Martha Stewart for Cottage Pie and wanted me to make it - the kicker, no mashed potatoes.

Here is the original recipe for Cottage Pie per Everyday Food.

3 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 large carrots, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
coarse salt & pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound ground beef or lamb
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 cup dark (porter) beer
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cups frozen peas
1 large russet potato, very thinly sliced

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and carrots and cook, stirring often, until onion is soft, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir in tomato paste. Add meat and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until almost cooked through, 3 minutes. Add thyme and beer and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently, until slightly reduced, 2 minutes. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir to combine. Add 1 cup water and cook until mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Stir in peas and season with salt and pepper.

• Transfer mixture to a 2-quart baking dish. Top with potatoes, overlapping slices. Season potatoes with salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 tablespoons butter. Bake until potatoes are browned around edges and tender when pierced with a knife, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

The family really liked this dish and we served it with sweet Hawaiian rolls and salad. I added fresh mushrooms and used dried thyme. I would also like to add in pear onions to the dish, as I think that it would add a little kick to it. For my first attempt, I used ground beef, but I think the ground lamb would really be nice and give a bit more flavor too.

Anyway, thank you Martha for providing a recipe that even my Mom would like - although, I missed the mashed potatoes!