The first thing that we did was make Rustic Garlic Mashed Potatoes

• 2 lbs potatoes (we used red potatoes and kept the skins on)
• 6 cloves of garlic
• salt
• water

We diced the potatoes so they would cook evenly and placed them in a large Dutch pot until potatoes are fork tender. We then drained the potatoes and added 1 stick of unsalted butter to the pot, and mashed the potatoes with the butter. Then we added 8oz sour cream, 1 cup of heavy cream, and used a hand beater to blend the potatoes until thoroughly blended.

• 2 medium carrots
• large white onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 stalks of celery
• pint of baby bella (or cremini) mushrooms

These ingredients were all diced to relatively the same size and cooked together until tender.

• 1lb ground lamb (works well with hamburger for substitution)

Preheat oven to 400F/205 °C. Cooked the lamb with the veggies until the lamb was no longer pink. We then drained off excess liquid from the mushrooms and returned them to the pan. We added 1 tbsp of all-purpose flour and cooked for five minutes to remove the flour taste.

• 1tsp ground rosemary
• 1tsp ground thyme
• 1tsp ground nutmeg
• 1cup red wine (we used Rodney Strong Upshot Red)
• 2 tsp roasted beef base (we used Better Than Bouillon)

We added spices first and then the wine with beef base to the meat/vegetable mixture. Stir and cook until thickened. Added salt & pepper to taste.

Transferred meat mixture to a 9X13 glass casserole dish. Spread evenly. On top of the meat mixture layer, spread rustic garlic mashed potatoes. Cut up 2 tbsp of unsalted butter into small pieces and drop on top of mashed potatoes. Sprinkled with smoked paprika, and we added 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes until fully hot.

We put a baking sheet underneath the glass casserole to catch any overflow. Hope you enjoy.