Sunday Dinner: Shepherd’s Pie

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a recipe! Honestly I haven’t had any super inspiring recipes to share with you all lately, but today I’ve got a good one. With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, we both thought tonight would be the perfect night for a hearty shepherd’s pie. Here’s a delicious recipe that B came up with (it of course involves beer :-).

For the filling: 

  2 lbs good quality ground beef
  4 carrots, diced
  4 leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced
  3 cloves of garlic, minced
  1 tablespoon flour
  12 oz good quality Irish ale (we used Great Lakes Conway’s Irish Ale)
  a few sprigs of rosemary, leaves stripped from stems
  2 tablespoons Worcestershire 
  1 tablespoon tomato paste
  1/2 cup beef broth
  1/2 lb frozen peas
  salt and pepper

For the topping:

  1 1/2 lbs dutch or yukon gold potatoes, quartered
  2-3 tablespoons butter
  1-2 splashes of milk
  2 oz Irish cheddar, grated
  salt and pepper
  olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In large skillet, brown the beef and cook through over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, leeks, and garlic and cook until they start to soften. Add the flour and cook until white is gone and it’s well incorporated. Add the beer and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add the rosemary, Worcestershire, tomato paste, and beef broth. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until sauce is thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and stir in frozen peas just before pouring mixture into baking dish.

Boil potatoes in salted water until soft. Drain. Add butter, milk, half of the cheese, and salt and pepper to taste and mash with a potato masher or fork.

Spread the potatoes over the meat mixture in the baking dish. Hatch with a fork, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Place in the oven and bake until browned (about 30-40 minutes).

Enjoy with a nice Irish ale or stout!

PS Reader Brid, from Dublin, informed me this is actually a cottage pie. Shepherd’s pie is made with lamb (either ground or cubed leftovers from a roast), hence the name.