Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Shepards Pie

Earlier in the week, or maybe at the end of last week (my days tend to blend together) I made a pumpkin and butternut squash shepards pie. Now, I thought of this as sort of an every day thing, but when I mentioned it on Twitter, people were astounded! "What? You used a pumpkin for shepards pie?", "You combined a pumpkin with butternut squash?" "You cooked for your family?" (For more hilarity, be sure to check out Good Enough Gardening Podcast, Hoards of Gourds episode).

The answer to all of the above is "Yes!". There are two key things at play here. The first is that shepards pie is really more of a method than a specific dish. There are a hundred variations, making it a great way to use up leftovers. The second is that pumpkin can actually be eaten like sweet potatoes. In fact, pumpkin tastes very similar to sweet potatoes...and to butternut squash, which is why many pumpkin pies are actually made with butternut squash. I happened to have a small sugar pumpkin and a good sized butternut squash, so I combined the two and made a great topping for my pie.

Here's how it all went down:

1 pie-sized pumpkin

1 butternut squash

6 oz broccoli, cut into florets

6 oz carrots, chopped

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 lb ground turkey

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 medium yellow onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dried thyme

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place broccoli and carrots on sheet pans. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast until browned and tender, 30 minutes or so. Remove and set aside.

At the same time, grab the small pumpkin and butternut squash. Cut in half, remove seeds, place on a baking sheet. Drizzle the cut sides with olive oil, salt and pepper. Turn cut side down and roast until tender...anywhere from 30-45 minutes, dependent upon the size. When finished, set aside to cool. Once cooled, remove the outer skins and place the orange flesh into a bowl. Mix together and set aside.

Add olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Saute turkey, pepper, onion, and garlic together. Add paprika, thyme, salt and pepper and cook until turkey is browned. Push mixture to the outer edges of pan. Add one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of flower to the center. Let combination melt and cook for approximately one minute. Whisk in chicken stock, add roasted broccoli and carrots, stir to combine. Bring to a simmer.

Take the squash and pumpkin mixture and layer over the top of the filling. Use a spatula to smooth. Place in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until top starts to brown and firm.

Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite winter meals...and it is super easy! I would love to hear from you, if you give it a try...

photo by D3 San Francisco

Comments

[Emilee]

This was great Jean Ann, thank you so much! We cooked this tonight for our Thanksgiving dinner (we just wanted to take it easy this year since we have 2 little ones.) Although we couldn't find pumpkins so I used sweet potatoes, which was excellent, especially since it is my son's FAVORITE! All in all it turned out great even though I made a few tweaks..I added some nutmeg and also I put the potatoes/squash through my foodmill/grater and the potatoes were nice and smooth and mixed perfectly. We will definitely make this again!!!