Shepherd’s pie is a staple in Irish homes and pubs. It’s really more of a traditional Irish dish than corned beef and cabbage. You can make it with lamb or ground beef. If you want to make it a more healthy version, you can swap ground turkey. I happen to live with a lamb hater (the meat, not the cute furriness of baby sheep) and he doesn’t seem to think that ground turkey is “real meat” so here’s my recipe for shepherd’s pie with ground beef. As you’ve gotten to know me through my recipes, you know that I add red wine to anything I can so there’s a good amount of a wine in this. If you don’t want to cook with the wine, just sub low-sodium beef stock.
Gather up your ingredients.
Set a pot of salted water to boil. Peel the potatoes and boil on low for about 15 minutes, until they break when pierced with a fork.
While the potatoes are boiling, cook the bacon pieces. Remove the cooked bacon with a slotted spoon and leave bacon fat in the pan. Add the vegetables and cook until soft, about 5-7 minutes. Remove the vegetables and set aside with the bacon. To the pan add the ground beef, chopping it in smaller pieces while cooking. Once the ground beef is browned and cooked through, add the vegetables and bacon back to the pan. Increase the heat a bit and pour in the wine. Worcestershire sauce, and beef broth, scraping up all the browned bits and adding their yummy goodness to the ground beef mixture. Add thyme, canned mushrooms, bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste.
In a small pan, melt butter and add flour, whisking until thick. Add this mixture to the ground beef mixture, stirring until the beef mixture thickens.
Adjust the oven racks to the lowest position and pre-heat the broiler.
Spray a non-stick pan with cooking spray and add the ground beef mixture.
Drain the cooked potatoes and mash them in pan with remaining butter, milk, chives, Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Once the mashed potatoes are smooth, add in the raw egg and combine it into the mashed potato mixture.
Add the mashed potatoes on top of the ground beef mixture.
Cook in the oven on broil until potatoes brown a bit at the top, about 5 minutes.
PrintIrish Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
1 pound pound russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 pound ground beef
1 shallot, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
1 can sliced mushrooms
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup red wine
1 cup beef broth
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon chives, diced
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 egg
Non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
Set a pot of salted water to boil.
Peel the potatoes and boil on low for about 15 minutes, until they break when pierced with a fork.
While the potatoes are boiling, cook the bacon pieces.
Remove the cooked bacon with a slotted spoon and leave bacon fat in the pan.
Add 1 tbs. olive oil and the vegetables and cook until soft, about 5-7 minutes.
Remove the vegetables and set aside with the bacon.
To the pan add the ground beef, chopping it in smaller pieces while cooking.
Once the ground beef is browned and cooked through, add the vegetables and bacon back to the pan.
Increase the heat a bit and pour in the wine, Worcestershire sauce, and beef broth, scraping up all the browned bits.
Add thyme, canned mushrooms, bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste.
In a small pan, melt butter and add flour, whisking until thick.
Add this mixture to the ground beef mixture, stirring until the beef mixture thickens.
Adjust the oven racks to the lowest position and pre-heat the broiler.
Spray a non-stick pan with cooking spray and add the ground beef mixture.
Drain the cooked potatoes and mash them in pan with remaining butter, milk, and chives.
Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.
Once the mashed potatoes are smooth, add in the raw egg and combine it into the mashed potato mixture.
Add the mashed potatoes on top of the ground beef mixture.
Cook in the oven on broil until potatoes brown a bit at the top, about 5 minutes.