• I attempted making Ina Garten’s shepherd’s pie recipe for St. Patrick’s Day.

• The meal was straightforward to arrange and was massive sufficient to feed an entire household.

• The pie’s filling was flavorful and savory, whereas the mashed potatoes had been completely creamy.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I attempted making Ina Garten’s straightforward recipe for shepherd’s pie.

I am an Irish-American, however I do not bear in mind ever consuming shepherd’s pie prior to now. The dish is conventional within the nation and dates again to the late 1700s when peasant wives would make the dish to reuse leftovers from the week’s Sunday roast dinner.

Nonetheless, shepherd’s pie has definitely made its approach stateside. Whereas Irish variations usually favor utilizing lamb, many American variations use floor beef or turkey as a substitute.

I made a decision to attempt making Ina Garten’s recipe for shepherd’s pie, which requires elements like carrots, celery, white button mushrooms, floor turkey, and home made mashed potatoes.

I began by peeling my Yukon gold potatoes.

A bag of potatoes usually weighs round 5 kilos, however the recipe solely referred to as for 3 kilos of potatoes. I discovered, ultimately, that this was the proper quantity to totally cowl the pie.

I then chopped the potatoes into 1-inch cubes and positioned them in a pot with water.

I then simmered the potatoes till they had been tender. This took about 20 minutes.

I used a time-saving hack to arrange my greens.

The recipe referred to as for finely diced carrots, celery, and white button mushrooms. I made a decision to make use of a meals processor to simply chop up my greens. I appreciated the tip end result and located this was the best strategy to put together all of the greens in seconds.

I additionally hand-chopped some mushrooms so as to add extra texture.

After my greens had been chopped, I set them apart in a small bowl and turned my consideration in the direction of cooking the meat.

The recipe requires 1.5 kilos of floor turkey meat, however you will get inventive when you do not wish to use turkey.

You need to use virtually any sort of floor meat you desire to, and even plant-based floor meat when you’re vegetarian. I ended up liking the selection of floor turkey because it made the very stick-to-your-bones meal a bit of bit lighter than if I had used meat with larger fats content material.

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I ended up utilizing a bundle and a half of floor turkey.

Whereas the turkey cooked, I crumbled it into small items with a picket spoon.

As soon as the meat was totally cooked, I eliminated it from the pan with a slotted steel spoon and left behind the fats within the pan.

The recipe additionally referred to as for diced onion.

I chopped it utilizing the meals processor once more and added it to the pan.

I began to sauté the onion, and it crammed my kitchen with a scrumptious aroma.

There needs to be sufficient fats within the pan from the turkey to sauté the onion, however you may as well add olive oil or butter if you do not have sufficient liquid.

I then added the opposite greens and cooked them down till they had been completely mixed and mushy.

I additionally added flour to the pan, which created a paste-like mixture.

I then added hen broth and cooked the combination till it was totally mixed and a number of the liquid had evaporated.

I additionally added in tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, and frozen peas to the pan and continued cooking the filling till it reached a simmer.

After stirring within the turkey, the combination was actually beginning to resemble what I knew because the filling of shepherd’s pie.

I eliminated the bay leaves and herb sprigs earlier than seasoning the combination to style and setting it apart.

After I had completed the pie filling, I began getting my potatoes prepared for baking.

After draining the potatoes, I hand-mashed them in the identical pot I cooked them in. The recipe referred to as for utilizing a hand mixer, however I discovered a potato masher to be simply as efficient at making creamy mashed potatoes, particularly after including in a combination of entire milk, nearly a stick of Kerry Gold butter, and bitter cream.

The potatoes turned out completely creamy.

I seasoned them to style and set them apart. I then preheated my oven to 400 levels Fahrenheit.

I added the pie filling to a big casserole dish and used a spoon to create an excellent layer of the meat and greens.

There was an ideal quantity of filling to create a thick layer.

I then unfold the creamy mashed potatoes over the filling, ensuring to get it as much as the perimeters of the pan.

Regardless of by no means having made this dish earlier than, I discovered the method straightforward to observe and never overwhelming in any respect. I additionally had a spoonful of mashed potatoes left over to style and thought they had been scrumptious.

I wished to have a deep-golden crust on the mashed potatoes, so I let the pie prepare dinner a bit longer than the recipe steered.

I cooked the pie within the oven for about half an hour, though the recipe steered it will be carried out after 20 minutes.

All ovens can fluctuate barely completely different with prepare dinner time, so I might counsel checking on the dish till you are proud of the end result.

After I served the pie, it was piping scorching and scrumptious. I might positively make this recipe once more for St. Patrick’s Day … or virtually another event.

It did not fairly maintain its form, however I think about it will have if I had let the pie sit for a minute or two earlier than I served it. Nonetheless, I merely could not resist diving in.

The mashed potatoes had been creamy, the filling was completely seasoned, and the greens all got here by means of in a medley of flavors. It was easy sufficient to be handy for a winter weeknight meal, but spectacular sufficient for a cocktail party and even sport day.

The recipe additionally made sufficient to feed a minimum of 4 individuals, with loads of leftovers. In my e-book, this conventional recipe bought a thumbs up.

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