Giada de Laurentiis transforms Thanksgiving leftovers into a sumptuous Shepherd’s Pie.
If your leftovers are lasting longer than you hoped, try this quick casserole-style dish to give new life to those boring leftovers.
Unless you’re an extreme turkey lover, you’ve probably reached your consumption limit for this holiday food. I know this bird (being me) certainly has!
But Giada de Laurentiis shows us how to squeeze one last meal out of those leftovers you might be tempted to just throw out. Instead of wasting food, why not make one last casserole to close out the turkey eating season.
Truthfully, this dish couldn’t be simpler—and after all that cooking last week, we could certainly use the break, right? Gather up all your leftovers, a pie crust, and some frozen vegetables that you probably already have in the freezer, and let’s get cooking.
First, bake off a pie crust. This is a perfect use for that last frozen pie crust you have hanging around. While that bakes off in the oven, start on the filling.
The filling is a simple combination similar to a pot pie base. Start by cooking up onions and garlic with butter, then make it into a sauce by adding a cup of gravy and cream. Then add the diced turkey, carrots, peas, and corn for texture and color.
Next fill the baked pie crust with the turkey filling. Top with room-temperature mashed potatoes and Parmesan cheese and bake for another 15 minutes to warm through. Then serve and gobble it up!
Of course, the best thing about this Thankful Shepherd’s Pie is that you can really put whatever you want or have leftover in it. Have an extra pie crust instead of mashed potatoes? Make this Shepherd’s Pie into pot pie! Don’t have carrots? Use the leftover green beans! The possibilities are endless.
