Cottage Pie Recipe with Dehydrated Vegetables

Cottage Pie with dehydrated vegetables is great comfort food for the family, and a perfect way to learn how to use dehydrated foods in your everyday meals!

Shepherd's Pie is one of my favorite comfort meals. It's easy, it's quick, it's a great throw whatever vegetables you have put together with some ground meat, and call it good.

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Cottage pie (which replaces the lamb with beef), the sister dish to Shepherd's pie that is more accessible to most because of the meat choice.

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 an 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 the rehydrating process. 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.

Cottage Pie Recipe with Dehydrated Foods

First, I'm basing my general recipe off of the one I follow from Alton Brown here.

But remember, I'm eyeballing this recipe since I never follow it exactly, I just use it as a base.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 pounds russet potatoes (err on the side of too many - you can use the rest to eat tomorrow!)
• ½ cup + milk or half and half (use powdered milk to make is shelf-stable)
• 4 tablespoons butter (Use butter powder to make it shelf-stable)
• 3 pounds ground beef (you can use freeze-dried ground beef to make this shelf-stable)
• 1.5 tablespoons onion powder (or ¼ C dehydrated onion if you want the bulk)
• 1 cup dehydrated vegetables of your choice: carrots, peas, green beans, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder (use 2 cloves fresh if you wish)
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons ground pepper
• ¼ cup green powder
• ¼ cup vegetable powder
• ¼ cup mushroom powder
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (use powder for shelf-stable recipe)
• 2 cup chicken broth or water (add the soaking water from your dehydrated goods)
• 3-4 tablespoon tomato powder
• 3 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme

Directions:

1. Rehydrate your dehydrated vegetables in a bowl with boiling water 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. 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.
3. Make mashed potatoes (peel, chop, boil and add milk and butter for your own taste)
4. Brown meat and drain any fat
5. Add the powders, garlic, onion, salt, flour, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well.
6. Add chicken stock and allow to simmer.
7. Add dehydrated vegetables and mix well.
8. Layer into two casserole dishes of your choice (I split between a 7x5 and 8x10 baking dish - one with the added vegetables, and one without.
9. Layer with mashed potatoes. Be sure to go all the way to the edge to seal it in.
10. Cook at 350­°F / 177°C for 15-20 min until potatoes are beginning to brown around the edges.
11. You can remove, top with a little cheese, and place under the broiler until it is melted and browned.
12. Allow to sit for 15 minutes to cool before serving.

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