Shepherd’s pie and Happy St. Patrick’s day
 
 
Ingredients
For making beef filling
  • Ground beef- 2 pounds
  • Carrots, diced small- 6, medium
  • Celery, diced small- 2 stalks
  • Onion, diced small- 1, large
  • Thyme, dried or fresh- 1 sprig
  • All-purpose flour- ¼ cup
  • Tomato paste- ½ cup
  • Water- ¾ cup
  • Ground pepper- ¼ tsp
  • Salt- as needed
  • Olive oil or Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp
For making Mashed potatoes
  • Baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced- 5
  • Whole milk or skim milk- 1 cup
  • Sharp white or yellow cheddar cheese, shredded - 1 cup + ½ cup while baking
  • Ground pepper- ¼ tsp
  • Salt- to taste
Instructions
Step 1 Making beef:
  1. Heat oil in a wide non-stick pan or dutch oven over medium heat, add carrots, celery, onion and thyme.
  2. Saute the veggies until tender.
  3. Add all-purpose flour to the tender veggies and combine well.
  4. Add tomato paste and stir well.
  5. Now, add ground beef, saute for a few minutes.
  6. Add ¾ cup water and let come to a boil.
  7. Lower the heat and cook the beef covered till it has cooked well and the water has dried off.
  8. Remove from the heat, keep aside the beef filling.
Step 2 Making Mashed potatoes:
  1. Place peeled, diced potatoes in a wide sauce pan, cover the potatoes with water and let come to a boil.
  2. Season the water with salt and lower the heat.
  3. Cook the potatoes until a fork goes easily into the potatoes.
  4. Drain the water from the cooked potatoes.
  5. Add milk and 1 cup cheddar cheese to the potatoes and mash the potatoes until smooth without any lumps using a wooden spoon or potato masher.
  6. Season the mashed potatoes with ground pepper and salt.
Step 3 Baking the pie:
  1. Preheat oven to 450 F.
  2. In a baking pan, pour the beef filling as the lower layer into the pan and spread it evenly.
  3. Drop the mashed potatoes over the filling and spread it evenly using a spatula.
  4. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup cheddar cheese over the mashed potatoes.
  5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the topping has browned and the filling is bubbling rapidly.
  6. Let cool down for 5 minutes and using a spatula serve both the beef filling and mashed potatoes on each plate.
Notes
You could even make the pie in two different baking pans.
You could make the beef filling and mashed potatoes one day ahead and bake it half an hour before serving it.
Any leftover can be refrigerated after wrapping the dish with a plastic wrap.
You could even add different kinds of veggies like green pepper, peas, cabbage etc to the beef filling.
Recipe by Cooking with Thas - Wholesome Homemade Recipes at https://thasneen.com/cooking/shepherds-pie-and-happy-st-patricks-day/