Shepherd's Pie

Since everyone was Irish this past weekend, I jumped into the spirit of it too. We had green eggs, green ham and green (spinach infused) silver dollar pancakes for breakfast. And, then I got into the spirit of things and made an Irish lamb stew and Shepherd's Pie for dinner.

What I had:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced finely
• 4 large carrots, peeled and finely diced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 glass red wine
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Boxed mashed potatoes, 4 cups prepared
• 1 egg, beaten
• Grated Parmesan cheese

What I did:

• Pre-heated oven to 400.
• Sauteed carrots in the olive oil until they were tender.
• Added in the onions for a minute or two, and then added the meat.
• Seasoned with black pepper and thyme.
• Cooked until browned then drained fat.
• Added the butter and peas.
• Sprinkled with flour and stir through.
• Added tomato paste, wine and Worcestershire sauce.
• Let it reduce slightly, added the chicken stock. Allowed to reduce down to a thick meaty gravy. 
• Seasoned with salt and pepper.
• Removed from heat. Greased a 9X13 glass baking dish with butter and added the sauce.
• Spooned mashed potatoes over top. Brushed with egg and sprinkled Parmesan cheese over top.
• Baked for 20 minutes till the potato was nice and browned on top. 

Dig in!

I like the sauce a little wet since it helps the potatoes absorb the flavor