repurposing with a twist: Annalena makes Shepherd's Pie

Well, carini, Annalena hopes you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  You all ate too much, or most of you did, and now, what do you do?

In the days to come, Annalena will be advocaing what she refers to as "temple days" as we repent for what we've done, but for now, how about some Shephard's Pie?

Does that look good?  It is.  And you can make it SO easily if you have on hand some leftover vegetables from the feast (and you know you do), and some ground meat.  Being the traditionalist that Annalena is, she makes hers with ground lamb, but it will work with other  proteins.  You could probably make it with ground turkey, or with chunks of meat or turkey.  This is a dish designed to use up leftovers. Annalena is going to frame a canvas for you, and then suggest you color outside of the lines.  

Here's where we begin.  First, your leftovers.  Here are Annalena's;

What you can see in there are carrots (the new cliche':  rainbow carrots), which she had roasted very hot, with ginger, and some steamed string beans.  Originally, there were almonds in them, but someone ate them all (she thinks it was the Guyman, but he's not fessing up).  And of course, underneath, REAL mashed potatoes.   Annalena made them with cream and butter, so we are of course, out of the "temple day" mode immediately.  And that's ok.  

And since this is SHEPHERD's pie, and  Annalena did get all of her turkey out of the house, she went to what it is supposed to be:  lamb.  She had a pound of ground lamb, and a large onion.

And here's what you do.   You add some olive oil to a pan, and add the onions.  When they are translucent, you break up the lamb, and add it.  Make sure to put in some salt, and don't be afraid to add some seasonings. Decide how you like your lamb, and then go for it.    When the lamb loses most of its pinkness, add your veggies. Annalena cut up her carrots, and also pulled out her green beans, or as many as she could:

You are almost there.  Taste this and season it if you need to.  If you want to be a real stickler, when the pink is gone,  then drain this all to get rid of any lamb fat.  Annalena says:  why bother?   Put all of this into a glass baking dish (this is enough for an 8x8).  Then, put about 2 ounces of grated cheese over that, then the potatoes, and then some more cheese. Again, you can change these quantities.  Note that Annalena is NOT doing what a lot of these recipes call for, which is whipping up the potatoes again, with more liquid, making peaks, etc, etc.  Geez, Louise, it's LEFTOVERS.  

Annalena does not know how you feel, but that looks pretty good to her. And then, bake it at 400, for 30 minutes.  You may need more or less time.  Follow your nose.  You'll smell when it's done:

Now, if there is any higher form of praise:  Annalena was planning to make one of the  Guyman's favorite lunches: pasta with caponata, and some fish.  He wants this.  He won't admit it, but he wants it.  What can a woman say?

What she can say, ragazzi, is tomorrow, we do go the way of the temple, and learn how to make a very nourishing, very cleansing... beet and cabbage soup.