Inside-out Shepherd's Pie

I have a confession. I can be a little lazy after a long day of work. But even when I am feeling a bit, um, "undermotivated" shall we say, I still love cooking a yummy dinner for the fam when I get home. Not only does cooking soothe my stressed-out soul, all of the "yummy noises" The Hub makes when consuming my creations do wonders for an ego bruised by slaying office dragons all day.

That being said - it never hurts to keep things as easy as possible, right? And so I give you the Inside-out Shepherd's Pie. All of the delicious flavor of the comfort food classic, with none of the extra assembly required!

Shepherd's pie is very forgiving, and I probably never do the exact same thing twice, but it is usually something like this:

-Make mashed potatoes (or use flakes, or use leftovers - this is a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes!) I dice potatoes small and boil them on the stove until tender before draining and adding a few splashes of milk and whipping them with my trusty hand mixer. Don't forget to taste and season with S&P.

-brown 1/2 lb of stew meat, cubed beef, or ground beef

-to the pan add 1 can of veggie beef soup and 1 can of water, stirring and scraping the pan bottom to deglaze the pan

-add 1 shake off the bottle of Worcestershire Sauce

-bring mixture to a boil

-mix two teaspoons of corn starch with two tablespoons of cold water and stir well

-add the corn starch slurry (yep that stuff you just made is a "slurry") to the boiling beef mixture and stir rapidly until mixture thickens.

Assembly:

Spoon mounds of mashed potatoes on to serving plates, making a well or indentation in the top of each mound.

Ladle beef mixture into potato well and allow to spill out over the sides of the mound.

Sprinkle with paprika and cheese if desired.

*Added bonus, not having to worry that when you attempt to serve your Shepherd's pie, it is going to fall apart in a messy heap. "Messy Heap" is what you are aiming for. :)