Thanksgiving Leftovers: Spicy Shepherd's Pie with Turkey

So, since I hosted Thanksgiving this year, obviously I had plenty of leftovers. Especially turkey since I thought it was a good idea to get a 17.7 lb bird for 6 people (at least it was free from Shop Rite!).  But, no worries- I love leftovers! I made some yummy stuff with them, and here’s the first one!

Spicy Turkey Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients

2 cups shredded roast turkey

2 cups mashed poatatoes

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

3 stalks celery, sliced

1 cup turkey stock

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp flour

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp thyme

1 bay leaf

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

¾ cup grated shredded cheese

Chopped fresh parsley for topping

Preheat oven to 400. Saute the carrot, onion and celery in olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat until carrot is softened. Add the garlic and other seasonings and cook for about 1 minute more. Add the turkey and then flour until well mixed. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Cook over medium-low heat until mixture thickens for about 5-7 minutes more. Adjust seasonings to taste. Add half of the amount of seasoning suggested above if you do not like it to be too spicy. 

Cookin'

About to go into the oven

Once mixture is ready, grease casserole dish and cover the bottom with the turkey mixture. Layer the top with the mashed potatoes, followed by the shredded cheese and parsley (or you could add the parsley after it’s out of the oven). Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until cheese starts to bubble. Let stand for at least 5 minutes before serving. Went great with leftover green bean casserole!

Fresh out the oven

Delish

This was extremely tasty, I liked it even better than the traditional shepherd’s pie with beef. Using turkey makes it much healthier since it’s a lean meat (unless you use mostly dark meat, but it’s still better for you than beef!). The mixture of seasonings is super aromatic and your taste buds will be dancing! The day after once the seasonings had settled even more, it tasted even better!

Lily found this a bit too spicy for her taste, although she dug the mashed potatoes with cheese. She opted for the leftover beets with broccoli and queso blanco (a new favorite) instead. If you have children who do like spicy food, try this! They will love it! Otherwise, just make it less spicy by starting with a ¼ tsp of the cayenne and go from there according to taste.

Enjoying her beets with broccoli (and actually offering me a bite with the hand you don't see extended towards the camera)

You could also use chicken stock if you did not think to make stock out of the leftover turkey bones. If you happen to still have some bones left, here’s a super simple recipe for turkey stock:

Ingredients

A pot full of turkey bones with some meat left on them

6-8 cups water (depending on how many bones there are)

1 tbsp olive oil (optional)

1 tbsp thyme

1 tbsp parsley

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Throw everything in a large pot and boil for 30 minutes. Cook for an additional 1-2 hours over a simmer, enough so that it is still a bit bubbly. Drain broth and store in fridge for later use.

Check back tomorrow for an other leftover turkey recipe using the stock (can you guess what that might be?). Next week I should be back to my normally scheduled programming, including Meatless Monday, featured blog of the month, and a Friday Family Favorite! Thanks for reading!