Soulless and Shepherds Pie

There wasn’t nearly enough of the science fiction and fantasy stuff I love in my last post, and I’d like to fix that.   I’m addicted to the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. And when I say addicted, I mean I was listening to the third book in the series in the car(a fabulous audio book) and reading the paperback when I wasn’t driving(like reading it at home, not at red lights or anything).  It’s like it was written just for me with all of my favorite things; it’s a steampunk adventure/romance with a feisty, logical heroine, a sexy Scottish werewolf, a flamboyantly gay vampire, a mystery, and a fair amount of humor as well. More please 🙂 Book one is called Soulless, if you were wondering.

So, vegetarian shepherd’s pie. Whenever I mention that I’ve made this, people ask me about it. Generally they want me to just bring them free pie, but for those of you who might actually be inclined to make it, here’s my “recipe” and I use this term loosely.  As far as I can tell, shepherd’s pie is basically leftover side dishes baked and topped with cheese.  Warm, delicious, cheesy leftovers…mmmm….

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

Several(3?) cups of mashed potatoes(you can cut corners and buy frozen pre-mashed potatoes if you want to save time), or South Beach mashed cauliflower
1 cup steamed or defrosted vegetables(today I used steamed carrots, broccoli, and spinach)
1 red onion thinly sliced, and then sliced again into crescents
vegetarian sausage(I used 2 links of apple sage soy sausage from Sprouts)
2-4 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
shredded cheese( provolone is amazing!)

Preheat oven to about 350. Mix the veggies into the mashed potatoes and pour into a casserole dish. Then slice the sausage or break into chunks and saute with 2 tablespoons of oil and the red onion, adding the garlic just as the onion is starting to brown. Saute until the onions are just about caramelized, but be careful not to burn the garlic.  Spread the sauteed mixture on top of the mashed potatoes and veggies. Top with the shredded cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes, or just until the cheese is melted if you are hungry and want to shovel it in your face as soon as possible.

I totally thought I took a picture of this recipe, but when I uploaded photos from my camera, it wasn’t there, and I had already eated all of the pie.  Perhaps I’ll post a pic if I make it again sometimes soon.  Happy eating, happy reading 🙂