Mini Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie Bites

Serve these adorable and wonderful shepherd's pie bites as an appetizer or for a fun meal. The rich and flavorful vegetable base is sandwiched between fluffy mashed potatoes and airy pastry, ready to be picked up and enjoyed.

Recipe from Spinach Tiger.

Ingredients:

-1 clove minced garlic

-1 onion, diced

-1 cup frozen peas
-2 carrots, diced
-1/2 cup asparagus
-5 ounces mushrooms

-1 teaspoon dried thyme or oregano

-salt and black pepper

-dash red chili flakes
-1/3 cup cooking wine
-1 1/2 lbs small yellow potatoes

-1/4 cup milk

-1 tablespoon butter
-1 teaspoon garlic powder
-Phyllo cups (15)

First prepare the vegetables, you want the pieces to be large enough to be distinguishable but small enough that they pack easily into the crust. Saute the onion in cooking spray or a little oil. After a few minutes, add the asparagus and carrots. Cook for another minute and add the mushrooms, peas and garlic. Pour in the cooking wine and stir in the dried thyme, a dash of red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. Let the vegetables simmer for now while you make the mashed potatoes.

While the vegetables cook, set a pot of water to boil for the potatoes. Peel and rough cut the potatoes into chunks, then boil them for 10 or 15 minutes. When they're cooked through, drain the pot, add the milk, butter, garlic powder and a touch more salt, then mash until desired consistency, relatively smooth is preferred for this recipe.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray, then fill it with mini shepherd's pies, which are the phyllo cups stuffed with as much vegetable filling as you can manage and topped with a tablespoon of mashed potatoes. Bake until the potatoes begin to turn golden brown.

These shepherd's pie bites strongly set themselves apart from the food I remember as shepherd's pie growing up. Bland and wet do not describe this dish. Great consistency, good flavor, and easy to portion. Perfect for a St. Patrick's day starter or a midweek treat!