Cottage Pie Recipe with Dehydrated Vegetables

Ingredients Tips

• Potatoes: You can use fresh potatoes (and double it up so you can freeze, dehydrate or freeze dry the excess), or the potato flakes you have in your pantry (or may have preserved).
• Dairy: while the recipe calls for half and half or milk for the potatoes, use any dairy substitute that works best for you. The fat is part of what helps the potatoes have some good flavor, so if you’re using something with less fat, be sure to season well! Garlic mashed potatoes are awesome!
• Meat: You can use any kind of ground meat you’d like with this including hamburger meat, chicken or turkey. We’ve even done this with half turkey and half sausage. You choose to use freeze-dried meat or dehydrated meat, too.
• Vegetable Blend: Use any kind of dehydrated vegetables you have in your pantry. I use a varied blend depending on what is most plentify or needs to be used up from my dehydrating cabinet.
• Tomato Powder: this helps increase the flavor of the sauce. Use as much or as little as you’d like. Another ingredient you might use is mushroom powder. It will help build the umami flavor of even the most uninspiring ground turkey!

Directions:

1. Rehydrate the dried vegetables in a bowl with boiling water or hot broth for about 30 minutes. If you choose the overnight soak, remember to do this the night before or start the morning of in the fridge.
2. If you’re using dehydrated ground beef or freeze-dried meat, you can include it with the vegetables above.
3. Strain your soaked vegetables into your potato water as it begins to boil (or reserve and use in place of some of the chicken stock below.
4. Make mashed potatoes (peel, chop, boil and add milk and butter for your own taste)
5. Brown meat and drain any fat
6. Add the powders, garlic, onion, salt, flour, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well.
7. Add chicken stock and allow to simmer.
8. Add dehydrated vegetables and mix well.
9. Layer into two casserole dishes of your choice (I split between a 7×5 and 8×10 baking dish – one with the added vegetables, and one without.
10. Layer with mashed potatoes. Be sure to go all the way to the edge to seal it in.
11. Cook at 350­°F / 177°C for 15-20 min until potatoes are beginning to brown around the edges.
12. You can remove, top with a little cheese, and place under the broiler until it is melted and browned.
13. Allow to sit for 15 minutes to cool before serving.

Tips for Using Dehydrated Vegetables

• Be sure to blanch vegetables if required. It will help make the final product much more pleasing.
• Properly rehydrate before creating a meal using a hot 30-minute soak, or an overnight or all-day soak in water in the fridge. (see video below).
• Vegetables are best as a part of a casserole, soup, stew, or integrated into something like meatloaf rather than eating as a side dish on their own. While this is personal preference, while you are learning, this is a great way to get started.
• Be sure to give your dehydrated foods plenty of time to cook after rehydrating. Blanching only partially cooks food, and if you didn’t blanch, they still need to be fully cooked. So give your foods time in a simmering soup, rehydrate before adding to most casseroles, etc.