Irish Shepherd's Pie

Cooking for Kids

Shepherd's Pie has always been a staple of traditional Irish cooking. With Saint Patrick's Day coming up there is no better time to make this nutritionally sound casserole. Traditionally the pie is made with ground lamb. But we used ground beef and you could substitute the recipe with ground chicken or turkey. Feel free to throw in any leftover vegetables you happen to have in the fridge. You can also make individual Shepherd's pies for the kids. Here's an easy Shepherd's Pie recipe adapted from simplyrecipes.com. 

You Will Need:

1 1/2 lbs ground round beef
1 onion chopped
1-2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas
1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice
A little shredded cheddar cheese for topping

What to Do:

1. Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).
2. While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick) in large frying pan.
3. Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.
4. Add ground beef and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add Worcestershire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.
5. Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.
6. Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well.
7. Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.
8. We added a little shredded cheddar cheese to the top of the casserole the last 10 minutes of baking.

References:
simplyrecipes.com
Photos by Stephanie Felzenberg

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