We purchased 1/2 of a lamb this month and have been experimenting with some lamb recipes. Ground lamb is an easy go-to for a quick meal, just like ground beef and pork. I had some thawing and had every intention of making one of those fancy looking Shepherd’s Pie recipes.
This one is from The Primalist. Doesn’t it look lovely?
Then I had to get real with myself and admit that I wasn’t going to brown all that meat and mash those sweet potatoes/squash/cauliflower, then arrange it in a dish and bake it. It just wasn’t one of those kinds of days. So, instead I did a very basic “scramble” or “skillet.”
My other shortcut was trying out Penzey’s Lamb seasoning that I picked up recently to accompany our mass meat purchase. Penzey’s rarely steers me wrong. Their lamb seasoning is a blend of: Turkish oregano, rosemary, cumin, celery, sweet paprika, black pepper, onion, garlic, spearmint and ginger. What are the chances that I am going to stand around the stove and measure all of those lovely spices out into a dish? Zero! Just another reason that I am a big fan of spice blends to give a quick meal a lot of flavor! (I found that this blend worked out beautifully, but the final dish did need a little salt to finish it off.)
Here is the basic recipe, but remember this is the kind of thing that lends itself to a lot of wiggle room. I basically made this with stuff I had in the fridge. The squash I used was a Golden Hubbard that I had pre-baked earlier in the week to have on hand.
Pre-baked Golden Hubbard squash
Shepherd’s Skillet
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 1 cup Brussels Sprouts, trimmed and sliced
- 5 strips bacon, chopped
- 1 cup squash or sweet potatoes, pre-cooked & cubed
- 1-2 Tbsp Penzey’s Lamb Seasoning (0r other similar seasoning)
- Cook bacon in pan, set bacon aside in large bowl, cover & use bacon drippings to begin browning the lamb.
- Add lamb seasonings and brown lamb, until ALMOST done, in bacon drippings. Remove from pan, add to the large bowl with bacon. Cover to keep warm.
- Add Brussels Sprouts to pan, add extra coconut oil or fat if needed to begin browning.
- When Brussels Sprouts are almost finished, add cooked sweet potatoes to pan and cook until warm.
- Finally, add lamb & bacon to the Brussels Sprouts and squash. Gently stir to combine and heat until lamb is finished and the veggies are cooked to liking.
- Serve. Add salt & pepper to taste.
This was also really yummy later in the week topped with a fried egg for breakfast!
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