With St. Patrick’s day right around the corner and all of this Irish blood in my body, I thought I would share my favorite traditional Irish recipe. I’ll be sharing with you my favorite Irish dish: Shepherd’s Pie. Shepherd’s pie is a meat dish with a crust made of mashed potatoes.
This shepherd’s pie is topped with smoked gouda duchess potatoes. It sounds pretty fancy, but it’s actually not very high on the difficulty level. I teamed up with a helpful chef to concoct this rich, flavorful dish. I brought the ingredients, and he brought the talent. “Teamwork” on 3! 1-2-3 TEAMWORK!
After looking up recipes, we found that many of them called for ground beef. Traditionally, shepherd’s pie is made with ground lamb or a lamb/beef combination. We decided to use lamb, even though it is a much more costly meat (around $12/lb versus $4-8/lb). I thought the flavor difference was totally worth it, though.
We usually make my other favorite traditional Irish dish on St. Patrick’s Day, corned beef and cabbage. However, I’m thinking this year, this shepherd’s pie will be taking its place. The recipe is perfect, seriously. Compliments to the chef!
What’s your favorite St. Patrick’s Day meal?
[divider]
Ingredients
- Filling:
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1.5 lbs Minced Lamb
- 1 large shredded
- 1 large shredded Carrot
- 3 cloves (minced) Garlic
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 4 Tbsp Tomato Puree
- 2 Tsp Rosemary
- 2 Tsp Thyme
- ¾ to 1 cup Red Cooking Wine
- ½ cupChicken Stock
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Topping:
- 3 lbs Potatoes
- 6 Egg Yolks
- ¼ cup Heavy Cream
- ¼ cup (grated) Parmesan Cheese
- ¼ cup (grated) Smoked Gouda Cheese
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Peel and cut the potatoes using a large dice cut (about ¾ inch cubes). Keep the diced potato pieces similar in size so that they are evenly cooked.
- Fill a dutch oven pot with cold water, add diced potatoes and boil until potatoes are tender.
- While the potatoes are boiling, bring a deep frying pan to a high heat. Add olive oil to the frying pan and begin searing the minced lamb. Season the lamb with salt and pepper.
- Once lamb is seared, stir in the shredded carrots, shredded onions, and minced garlic and sauté for 3 minutes.
- Stir in worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, rosemary, thyme, and red cooking wine.
- Cook until the red cooking wine has almost all evaporated while stirring frequently.
- Once the wine has mostly evaporated, add the chicken stock and cook it out for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Remove the mince from heat and set aside.
- Once the potatoes are fully cooked, drain them and place them on a baking sheet, spread the potatoes as much as possible, and place inside a preheated oven for 10 minutes to dry them out. Once the potatoes have dried, place them in a ricer to mash them.
- Add salt and pepper to the potatoes to taste and then stir in egg yolks and heavy cream.
- Once combined, stir in all of the grated parmesan cheese and half of the grated smoked gouda cheese.
- Place the minced lamb mixture in a pie or casserole dish, then press down and condense the mixture into the dish.
- Cover the minced lamb mixture with the potato mixture and smooth the potatoes.
- Cover the potato topping with the remaining smoked gouda cheese and bake at 400°F for 18 to 20 minutes or until the potatoes are beginning to brown.
- ENJOY!
Looks delicious! It’s such an English dish too. There is also cottage pie-the same but with mince beef. We make the topping slightly different. No cream or Gouda cheese or egg. Just potato topped with cheddar cheese. Great recipe!
Helen recently posted..Blog Series – Curves around the World – Curvy Plus size Outfits – WEEK #36 NEON