Celebrate St. Patrick’s day with this Shepherd’s pie, you get to dig in browned seasoned juicy ground beef and mashed potatoes…
Are you still surfing the internet trying to figure out what to make on St. Patty’s day? If so, you could stop searching now and it’s time to get into cooking. You just need ground beef, baking potatoes and cheddar cheese to make this fabulous shepherd’s pie that everyone is going to rave about.
I was kind of confused about what to call this pie, cottage pie or shepherd’s pie. Wiki says cottage pie is a meat pie made with minced beef, while shepherd’s pie is made with minced lamb. Then, why am I calling this dish which has beef in it as shepherd’s pie? Well, it seems that in Ireland they call a pie which has beef in it as shepherd’s pie. Alright, I think I am safe now. Whether you call it cottage pie or shepherd’s pie or if you wish to give it a different name, it doesn’t matter as long as it has either minced beef or lamb topped with creamy mashed potatoes and lots of cheese sprinkled over.
Happy St. Patrick’s day everyone!
Shepherd’s Pie
For making beef filling
- Ground beef- 2 pounds
- Carrots, diced small- 6, medium
- Celery, diced small- 2 stalks
- Onion, diced small- 1, large
- Thyme, dried or fresh- 1 sprig
- All-purpose flour- 1/4 cup
- Tomato paste- 1/2 cup
- Water- 3/4 cup
- Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
- Salt- as needed
- Olive oil or Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp
For making Mashed potatoes
- Baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced- 5
- Whole milk or skim milk- 1 cup
- Sharp white or yellow cheddar cheese, shredded – 1 cup + 1/2 cup while baking
- Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
- Salt- to taste
Instruction:
Step 1 Making beef:
- Heat oil in a wide non-stick pan or dutch oven over medium heat, add carrots, celery, onion and thyme.
- Saute the veggies until tender.
- Add all-purpose flour to the tender veggies and combine well.
- Add tomato paste and stir well.
- Now, add ground beef, saute for a few minutes.
- Add 3/4 cup water and let come to a boil.
- Lower the heat and cook the beef covered till it has cooked well and the water has dried off.
- Remove from the heat, keep aside the beef filling.
Step 2 Making Mashed potatoes:
- Place peeled, diced potatoes in a wide sauce pan, cover the potatoes with water and let come to a boil.
- Season the water with salt and lower the heat.
- Cook the potatoes until a fork goes easily into the potatoes.
- Drain the water from the cooked potatoes.
- Add milk and 1 cup cheddar cheese to the potatoes and mash the potatoes until smooth without any lumps using a wooden spoon or potato masher.
- Season the mashed potatoes with ground pepper and salt.
Step 3 Baking the pie:
- Preheat oven to 450 F.
- In a baking pan, pour the beef filling as the lower layer into the pan and spread it evenly.
- Drop the mashed potatoes over the filling and spread it evenly using a spatula.
- Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese over the mashed potatoes.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the topping has browned and the filling is bubbling rapidly.
- Let cool down for 5 minutes and using a spatula serve both the beef filling and mashed potatoes on each plate.
Tips:
- You could even make the pie in two different baking pans.
- You could make the beef filling and mashed potatoes one day ahead and bake it half an hour before serving it.
- Any leftover can be refrigerated after wrapping the dish with a plastic wrap.
- You could even add different kinds of veggies like green pepper, peas, cabbage etc to the beef filling.
- Ground beef- 2 pounds
- Carrots, diced small- 6, medium
- Celery, diced small- 2 stalks
- Onion, diced small- 1, large
- Thyme, dried or fresh- 1 sprig
- All-purpose flour- ¼ cup
- Tomato paste- ½ cup
- Water- ¾ cup
- Ground pepper- ¼ tsp
- Salt- as needed
- Olive oil or Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp
- Baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced- 5
- Whole milk or skim milk- 1 cup
- Sharp white or yellow cheddar cheese, shredded - 1 cup + ½ cup while baking
- Ground pepper- ¼ tsp
- Salt- to taste
- Heat oil in a wide non-stick pan or dutch oven over medium heat, add carrots, celery, onion and thyme.
- Saute the veggies until tender.
- Add all-purpose flour to the tender veggies and combine well.
- Add tomato paste and stir well.
- Now, add ground beef, saute for a few minutes.
- Add ¾ cup water and let come to a boil.
- Lower the heat and cook the beef covered till it has cooked well and the water has dried off.
- Remove from the heat, keep aside the beef filling.
- Place peeled, diced potatoes in a wide sauce pan, cover the potatoes with water and let come to a boil.
- Season the water with salt and lower the heat.
- Cook the potatoes until a fork goes easily into the potatoes.
- Drain the water from the cooked potatoes.
- Add milk and 1 cup cheddar cheese to the potatoes and mash the potatoes until smooth without any lumps using a wooden spoon or potato masher.
- Season the mashed potatoes with ground pepper and salt.
- Preheat oven to 450 F.
- In a baking pan, pour the beef filling as the lower layer into the pan and spread it evenly.
- Drop the mashed potatoes over the filling and spread it evenly using a spatula.
- Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup cheddar cheese over the mashed potatoes.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the topping has browned and the filling is bubbling rapidly.
- Let cool down for 5 minutes and using a spatula serve both the beef filling and mashed potatoes on each plate.
You could make the beef filling and mashed potatoes one day ahead and bake it half an hour before serving it.
Any leftover can be refrigerated after wrapping the dish with a plastic wrap.
You could even add different kinds of veggies like green pepper, peas, cabbage etc to the beef filling.
