Shepherd's Pie

Here's another recipe from my Ground Beef cookbook. It was good. I used instant potatoes again, but it made way too much. It asks for 5 1/2 cups of mashed potatoes, but I would try maybe 3 1/2-4 cups instead.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

3 bacon strips, diced

1 small onion

2 garlic cloves

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tomato sauce

1 can (2 1/4 oz) chopped ripe olives, drained

5 1/2 cups hot mashed potatoes (prepared w/out milk and butter)

2 eggs, beaten

2 T butter or margarine, softened

1 T minced fresh cilantro or parsley

1/3 tsp salt

Additional butter or margarine, melted

Directions:

In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain and set aside. In the same skillet, cook bacon, onion, garlic and oregano until bacon is crisp. Stir in tomatoe sauce, olives and beef. Simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine mashed potatoes, eggs, butter cilantro and salt; mix well. Spread half of the potato mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-in. pie plate. Top with beef mixture and remaining potato mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Brush w/melted butter. Bake 10 minutes longer or until golden brown.

Yield:6-8 servings.