Leftover Beef Stew? Make a Sweet Potato Cottage Pie

This dish wins for the best thing to do with leftover beef stew!

Since it's just the two of us, I always have a lot of leftover beef stew....so I freeze it in separate containers for different recipes all winter (kimchi beef stew is another winner).

Next time you have leftover stew, make a cottage or shepherd's pie.....a traditional British meat casserole, with a topping of mashed potato.

I have never been a mashed potato girl, but when you say mashed SWEET POTATOES, I'm in.

For this recipe, you can use any beef you like, ground beef, chuck stew, or brisket, as long as it's cooked!

Let's begin:

I livened up my leftover stew by adding in fresh sauteed carrots, peas and onions, re-seasoning the stew to taste with salt and pepper.

You are now half way done!

Pour the desired amount of cooked stew into a glass dish or oval baking dish (size of the dish will depend on the amount of leftovers you have).

Now for the fun part.

I used 2 sweet potatoes because I had enough stew for 4 servings.

Bake, boil or microwave your sweets, and while they are still hot, (but cool enough to handle), remove the skins and scoop the hot flesh into a bowl with 3 tbsp butter, 3 tbsp heavy cream, salt & pepper and PIMENTON (about a teaspoon). The smoked Spanish paprika will really make the mashed sweet potatoes sing, so don't omit this spice.

With a silicone spatula, spread the mashed sweet potatoes on top of the stew.

Brush with some melted butter (if you like, and I like). Score some nice design with a fork and bake at 375F for 20 minutes....or place under the broiler for 6 minutes (keep an eye so the top doesn't burn).

This is so damn delicious!

If you are doing Whole30, then omit the butter (only clarified butter allowed on Whole30, but don't quote me....) and use olive oil or coconut oil and omit the cream.

My next blog will be titled "The Leftover Queen".