Shepherd's Pie when he's hanging out with the Pigherd

Every time I've had a Shepherds Pie, it's been too dry and crumbly, and a bit tasteless. So when I settled on that dish for dinner tonight, since I have way too many potatoes to use up, I decided I'd put a twist on it. Here's what happened:

3 medium sized potatoes; skinned, chopped, boiled
2 T cream cheese
1 lb ground beef
6 slices bacon; diced
1/2 onion; minced
2 cloves garlic; minced
1 tomato, diced
1 egg
2 T tomato paste
1 c green peas
1 large carrot; skinned, chopped, boiled
salt and pepper to taste
handful shredded cheddar cheese

I mashed the potatoes with cream cheese (and plenty of salt) because I found I had no sour cream. I guess you could use either, but the cream cheese probably gave the potatoes a little extra stiffness and a nice flavor.

I browned the ground beef in a skillet with the minced onions and garlic and added the pieces of bacon and tomato when it was mostly browned. In a medium sized bowl I whisked the egg, tomato paste, a few shakes of salt, and plenty of coarse ground black pepper. Then I stirred the beef and the egg mixture together thoroughly.

In a greased 9x9 square casserole, I pressed a little more than half the potatoes into the bottom and layered the meat, the peas and carrots, and the rest of the potatoes on top. (The top layer of potatoes takes a little care to keep from ruining the layer of vegetables beneath.) Then a sprinkling of cheddar cheese topped it off, and it went in the oven, covered, to bake for an hour at 300F.

The result was a richly flavored pie that held its shape admirably, even when served. It was moist because of the egg and tomato paste, and I also made sure not to drain the meat--okay, a few extra calories, but whatever.

It serves about 8, if you're not greedy.