As I beheld the beautiful purple-skinned sweet potatoes, I imagined this would be the perfect show-stopping element at dinner. But on the first pass of my potato-peeler, my hopes were shattered. Rather than the deep purple flesh I had envisioned, the skin was white!
What Type of Sweet Potato Has Purple Flesh?
The thing is, I know the difference between Japanese sweet potatoes and the actual purple sweet potatoes I was seeking. But my brain must have glitched and I just grabbed something “purple” without thinking too much about it. The next time I went to Whole Foods, I made sure to find Stoke’s Purple Sweet Potatoes. I wanted to confirm I was getting the deep purple flesh.
This time last year I must have tested a sweet potato pie recipe using purple sweet potatoes about five times. Each one was delicious. But I never settled on the perfect consistency of the custard and have not gotten around to posting the recipe. Maybe I will post that soon. In the meantime, I still wanted to make something eye-catching with the purple potatoes. Enter Purple Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie.
Ground beef is one of my favorite foods. And thankfully, Costco has recently started selling American grass-fed, grass-finished ground beef at a great price. I pick some up for my freezer just about every time I’m there just in case they stop carrying it. The combination of purple sweet potatoes and lots of delicious grass-fed beef in my freezer inspired me to make a Shepherd’s Pie. It’s also the perfect dish to make as the temperatures are getting cooler now in the fall.
Where Did Shepherd’s Pie Originate?
Apparently Shepherd’s Pie, like many classic dishes, has people fighting over it. Is it Irish? Is it Scottish? We don’t know!
Irish origins: Some say Shepherd’s Pie originated in Ireland and was brought to England in the 1500s. The name “cottage pie” comes from the humble cottages of Irish peasants, who ate a lot of potatoes after they became an inexpensive staple in the mid-1700s.
Scottish origins: The name “shepherd’s pie” was first recorded in an 1877 English cookbook that attributed the dish to Scotland. But, a Scottish cookbook from 1862 contained a similar recipe, without the name “shepherd’s pie”. In Scotland, Shepherd’s Pie was once made with pastry instead of mashed potatoes.
Peasant origins: Many believe that peasant housewives created Shepherd’s Pie as a way to use up leftovers from Sunday roast.
In any case, Shepherd’s Pie has British Isle origins. My family heritage is Irish, Scottish and British. So maybe I’m genetically predisposed to enjoying this hearty fare. It’s not a prerequisite, however, so don’t let your 23-And-Me results dissuade you from trying the recipe.
Nutrient-Dense Recipe
The recipe for Purple Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie is not only beautiful, it is nutritious. You can check out the Nutrition details at the end of this post to see data on key nutrients. The Purple Sweet Potatoes are a good source of vitamin C. They contain a high level of anthocyanins—the antioxidant compound also found in blueberries. It’s what gives this potato its purple hue. The grass-fed ground beef not only gives you protein, you also get high levels of B6 and Vitamin K. I make my own bone broth – both beef and chicken. This recipe is a way to get more of that good collagen into the diet.
Purple Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie is Easy to Make
This recipe for Purple Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie is quite easy to make. It uses many common pantry items. It also uses root vegetables that have a long “shelf life.” Additionally, meat and broth can come out of the freezer. You can boil the potatoes while you make the meat mixture and preheat the oven. Overall, it doesn’t take a ton of time or effort. And yet you truly will amaze and impress your family. My husband and I discussed how it was delicious and beautiful enough we would serve it to guests.
The dish is higher in carbs – although it does contain a good amount of fiber, protein and healthy fats. Serving it with something lower in carbs is a good idea. A simple green salad dressed lightly with oil and vinegar works well.
Purple Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie is not only gluten-free, it’s primal. It can be made strict paleo and dairy-free if you substitute another oil for the butter/ghee in the mashed purple potatoes.
PrintPurple Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie
A classic British dish made gluten-free and with a purple sweet potato topping turning it into an extra nutrient-dense and show-stopping meal.
- Prep Time: 60
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Paleo
- Cuisine: British
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 pounds grass-fed ground beef
- 1 1/2 cups diced onion
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoons onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 cup diced carrot, about 2 medium carrots
- 2 tablespoons cassava flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup bone broth
- 2 medium Stoke’s purple sweet potatoes
- 4 tablespoons butter or ghee
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit
- Peel and chop sweet potatoes into cubes, cover in water and boil until soft
- While the potatoes are cooking, brown the ground beef in a large pot
- Into the browned ground beef, add the onions, parsley, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder and cook on medium low until onions are soft, about 5 minutes
- Add the carrots and continue cooking another 5 minutes
- Add cassava flour and tomato paste and stir well and continue cooking an addition 2 minutes to allow the flour to cook and the mixture to thicken
- Add the bone broth, bring to a simmer and cook for about 5 more minutes until hot and thickened.
- Adjust seasonings as needed
- Add the beef mixture to a 7 x 11 casserole dish
- Drain the potatoes, saving some of the deep purple water
- Add the butter or ghee, salt and pepper to taste and enough of the reserved liquid to obtain a nice consistency that can be spread easily.
- Top the beef mixture with the mashed purple sweet potatoes and spread evenly until smooth and covering the entire top
- Place dish onto a heavy cooking sheet (in case of overflow while cooking) and put into the preheated oven
- Cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly
- Allow to stand for 15 minutes before serving
Notes
The mashed purple sweet potatoes will be easier to spread if you wait until the meat mixture is done before draining and mashing.