Simple Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef in a bit of olive oil, seasoning it well with salt, pepper and desired spices to taste. Remove to a 9×13″ baking dish, and set aside.

In the same pan you browned the beef in, saute the onions until soft, adding a little more olive oil, if needed. Scrape up the browned bits in the pan. Add the garlic and saute for a few seconds, being careful not to burn the garlic!

Stir in the condensed soup and stock, stirring well to combine, and simmer on low.

While the sauce/onion mixture is simmering, scatter the frozen corn or veggies on top of the ground beef in your baking dish. Pour the sauce evenly over the top, then ‘frost’ with mashed sweet potatoes*. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon and paprika, and drizzle with olive oil, if desired.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are slightly browned and the sauce is bubbling.

* To make my super-simple mashed sweet potatoes, mix a bag of Oreida Steam n’ Mash sweet potatoes, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, 1/3 cup milk, ginger and lemon and orange zest to taste. Set aside.

TIP: This is a great make-ahead dish. Just prepare the dish without baking it and place it in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to use it. If refrigerated, bake time will be more like 50 to 60 minutes!