If you want to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at your dinner table but didn’t have the forethought corned beef requires with weeks of brining time, shepherd’s pie is a delicious option.
Recipe: Shepherd’s Pie Under Champ
Using ground lamb instead of larger chunks of meat cuts down on the cooking time without sacrificing tenderness in the final dish. And if you have an 8-year-old who’s very vocal about what meat he will eat (surely, mine cannot be the only one), ground beef makes an easy substitution. When made with beef instead of lamb, the dish is traditionally called cottage pie, but the idea is the same. Or try a vegan Green Shepherd’s Pie that’s made with lentils.
The basic principle that’s behind all these is a tender filling of protein and veggies covered by mashed potatoes and baked to a golden deliciousness. This recipe from Ivy Manning makes the filling with ground lamb or beef, onion, carrots and cremini mushrooms which are topped with champ — mashed potatoes with green onions — that adds a fresh spring flavor to the dish.