Shepherd’s Pie

Recipe

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 
• Boil the potatoes in a pot of salted water that covers the potatoes completely. You’ll boil them until they’re tender by a fork prick. Drain the water. 
• Add the butter, sour cream and milk along with salt and pepper to taste. Mash the potatoes until you reach your preferred mashed potatoes consistency. Set aside. 
• In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and onions. Add the garlic and cook for another couple minutes. 
• Add 2 cups frozen vegetables to that same skillet. Stir and let it cook for about 5 minutes or so. Stir occasionally.
• Sprinkle the flour over the meat and vegetable mixture and stir to mix it all in. 
• Add in tomato paste, broth, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary and thyme.
• Stir and then bring it all to a simmer. Cook on low for about 5-7 minutes. 
• In a 9×13 casserole dish, layer the meat mixture on the bottom. 
• Top with the mashed potatoes and smooth it out into an even layer. 
• Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. 
• I hit it with a high broil for 3 minutes to brown the tops of the potatoes at the very end. It gives it a beautiful color. This is optional. 
• Serve warm! 

A St. Patricks’ Day tradition, making Shepherd’s Pie, came together this weekend. My favorite part of this has to be the creamy, homemade mashed potatoes. Don’t get me wrong, the beef and veggie mixture is delicious, but a Shepherd’s Pie wouldn’t come to life without the potatoes.

You’ll notice I do not have leeks or cabbage in here. If you really want to “Irish” it up, you can add chopped cabbage or leeks. My kids probably wouldn’t want those in this dish so I kept them out.

You’ll want to be sure to add the flour to the beef mixture as you make it. I note it below in the recipe because that’s what binds the beef broth and Worcestershire to the veggies and meat. It helps lock in the flavors. 

Another option is to add a little red wine for extra flavor. It’s optional and I don’t use it in mine. I’m not a wine drinker and so I’d hate to buy a bottle of red wine for 1/2 cup of this recipe and the rest goes to waste. If you like red wine, I recommend trying it out! 

Okay, enough of the options and tips– let’s get cooking.