Shepherds Pie

We’re about to celebrate the wearing of the green, shamrocks and all things Irish this Saturday with a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Though I don’t actually carry any Irish blood, some has married into our extended family so I’ve learned a teensy bit about all the hoopla. One thing that remains a mystery is the food. Last year I made a corned beef and cabbage stir-fry (yummy and much easier than the traditional meal) – this year, I decided on Shepherds Pie. Then I started to do some research, and I was soon asking more questions than a 3-year-old. There doesn’t seem to be a single source of truth about Shepherds Pie. It could be lots of things.

Is Shepherds Pie Irish or British? Is there supposed to be an apostrophe? Shepherds Pie technically should be made with lamb or mutton (it’s shepherds pie, not cowherds pie) but I made ours with beef because I was fresh out of mutton. It’s supposed to be a “leftover” dish – made with whatever meats and veggies you have left over and topped with mashed potatoes – but I made mine with ground beef and a bag of frozen veggies.

The good news is that whatever history you believe, whatever ingredient choices you make and whatever your heritage, Shepherds Pie tastes great! I adapted a recipe I found online, and it does take more effort than I normally put into a weeknight meal, but it would be easy to speed things up by using pre-made mashed potatoes and canned (or leftover) veggies instead of frozen.

So gather the family this weekend and celebrate with a lovely Shepherds Pie!

j*a*N*e

Shepherds Pie

• 5 potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 Tbsp. Merlot Sauce
• 2 Tbsp. Onion Onion
• Scant ½ tsp. Seasoned Salt
• 1 tsp. Garlic Garlic
• 4 oz. can sliced mushrooms
• 15 oz. can mixed vegetables
• 10.75 oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 10.75 oz. can condensed cream of celery soup
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning, prepared as directed with butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray and set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook potatoes in boiling water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Mash potatoes with a little of the cooking liquid. Set aside.

In a large skillet, cook ground beef over medium heat with the Merlot Sauce, Onion Onion, Garlic Garlic and Seasoned Salt until brown. Drain fat from pan. Stir in mushrooms, mixed vegetables, mushroom soup and celery soup and heat through. Pour into prepared baking dish, cover with mashed potatoes, and dot with Italian Garlic Bread seasoned butter. Bake for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are golden and beef and vegetable mixture is hot and bubbly.

Shepherds Pie

Testing Notes

• I mashed my potatoes with a little milk, a spoonful of sour cream and part of the Italian Garlic Butter. You don’t have to do that, but it tastes good when you do!
• I had some fresh mushrooms to use up, so I sliced them and tossed them in with the browning hamburger. And can I just say how much I LOVE adding Merlot Sauce when I’m browning ground beef? Dang that’s good. Smells great too.
• I subbed a 16 ounce bag of frozen mixed veggies since I didn’t have any canned, so I had to take the extra step of cooking them first.
• At the last minute, I discovered I had no cream of celery soup, so I subbed cream of chicken. I don’t think anyone noticed.
• I dotted the top with the remaining Italian Garlic Butter, which resulted in a polka dot top when it was done baking. We thought it was kind of cute.
• My family loved this dish – especially my daughter. She suggested we start making this once a week!

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