"Sweet" and Smokey Turkey Shepherd's Pie

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"Sweet" and Smokey Shepherd's Pie
adapted from Rachael Ray

Ingredients
2 large (orange) sweet potatoes, also named yams, peeled and cubed
1 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cubed
Coarse salt
cooking spray
1 1/3 pound ground turkey breast
1 tablespoon smoked paprika, available in small cans on spice aisle of market
(You may substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons each sweet paprika and cumin combined- which is what i did.)
Coarse black pepper
2 tablespoons, 5 or 6 sprigs, fresh thyme leaves
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 ear of corn, kernels cut off (you may also use 1 cup frozen corn)
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cubanelle pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream or greek yogurt, divided
3 tablespoons butter
1 large egg, beaten
fresh chives, chopped or snipped

Directions
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the potatoes until tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

Heat a deep, large skillet over medium-high heat. Spray your pan evenly with nonstick cooking spray. Add ground turkey to the pan and break it up. Season the turkey with smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and thyme. When turkey browns up, add onions and carrots. Season the veggies with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, then add red pepper, corn and peas cook another 2 minutes. Stir in flour and cook flour 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and combine. Add 1/2 cup of sour cream and combine. Simmer mixture over low heat.

Preheat your broiler to high.

When potatoes are tender, add a ladle of cooking water to the egg. Drain potatoes and return to the warm pot to dry them out a little. Add remaining 1/2 cup sour cream, butter, half of the chives, and salt and pepper. Smash and mash the potatoes, mashing in the beaten, tempered egg. If the potatoes are too tight, mix in a splash of milk.

Pour turkey mixture into a medium casserole dish. Top turkey with an even layer of smashed potatoes and place casserole 5 inches from hot broiler. Broil the potatoes until golden at edges and remove the casserole from the oven. Garnish the casserole with the remaining chives and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

This is a wonderful recipe; completely comforting and full of a great mingling of flavors.  The original recipe from Rachael Ray adds in bacon and uses only Idaho potatoes.  I am heading towards my big grocery shopping day, so I needed to improvise with what ingredients I still had in my pantry.  I only had  one Idaho potato and two sweet potatoes, and I also had one ear of corn.  So I thought it would make a nice contrast adding in the sweet potatoes and sweet corn to play on the smokiness of the paprika.  I also omitted the bacon from the original recipe because I was fresh out- I know, how depressing!  We definitely didn't miss the bacon, although I am sure it would be a tasty addition.   We all agreed that this recipe is a keeper and one that will easily slide into our regular rotation of favorite meals.  It is also a huge kids pleaser!  Jackson love, LOVED this meal.  He gobbled his right up telling me it was so yummy.  And the fact that it only goes under the broiler for about 5 minutes, you get a nice comfort meal without heating up your kitchen.  Perfect.


**Be sure to come back tomorrow for My Retro Kitchen's next giveaway!  It is an awesome one provided by my friend Melissa Kroft of Tastefully Simple!!  You don't want to miss out on this one- I promise!