i had never had shepherd’s pie until i met the boyfriend. see, he hails from co. tipperary, ireland and when i told him i had never tried it he was shocked and immediately made me pan.  after i tried it for the first time i was a changed woman. so of course i had to learn to make it! 

here is my try at shepherd’s pie:

INGREDIENTS:

6-8 potatoes

1 lb of ground beef

3-5 carrots

1/2 large white onions

2 tbs of butter

splash (yes, a splash) of milk

1 pack of brown gravy (i only had pork gravy and i dont like the supermarket in my neighborhood so i was stuck with it.  it tasted great)

1 minced garlic clove

salt & pepper

PREPARATION:

season the meat with salt and pepper.  in a large pot boil water with a pinch of salt.  peel the potatoes and chop into small pieces so they cook faster.  while you wait for the water to boil chop the onions.  place about 1/4 aside.

^this is how i chopped my potatoes

DISCLAIMER: i was a little tired/distracted and did the following steps in the wrong order so i am posting them in the correct order.  sorry.

heat a teaspoon of olive oil on a skillet and cook the minced garlic.

add the the larger portion of the onions

cook those and add the meat.  cook the meat throughout.  while the meat cooks peel and slice the carrots.

once the meat is cooked thru drain the fat and add the rest of the onions and the sliced carrots. 

YUM!

at this point the potatoes should be cooked, take them off the fire and drain them.  careful not to get burned like i did.

yay taytos!!

while they cool a little bit make the gravy according to the packet and pour over the meat.  cover and cook on low heat.

mash the potatoes with butter and milk. 

i used a glass pan but you can use any as long as it is oven safe.  put the meat on the pan and spread to make sure the bottom is completely covered. then put all the potatoes over and smooth over.

now, according to the bf the following step is VERY IMPORTANT!

grab a fork and make ridges all along the mashed potatoes. like this:

turn the oven on to broiler and put the pie in the broiler for about 8 minutes.  keep checking on it thou. you don’t want it to burn!

it should look something like this:

ohhh the smell!!!!! such the perfect comfort food! :)

at this point if you want make a simple salad to go with it. serve yourself some wine/guinness/water/soda and move to the table. 

we didn’t have any leafy greens so no salad for us.  the boy served it and decided to serve it with some grapes.  it actually worked.

and there you go, shepherd’s pie.  hope you try it!!