Sunday Sunday Here Again In Tidy Attire

Recipe: Local Irish Easy Pea-sy Pie

Sunday Feeding Time! I love a nice feasting after a weekend of fun. Problem is I'm often veeeeeery tired on a Sunday evening, and laaaaazy. Luckily this Shepard's pie is real simple to make. Hey, leave the dishes til Monday, and relax! The other thing that makes this an awesome dinner for us Irish residents, it can be completely locally sourced in nearly every season. Huzzah. Guilt free!

Preheat your oven to about 180C (350F). First things first - make some mashed potatoes! Boil them spuds in garlicy salty water till they're soft, then squash em up with a bit of salt, pepper, butter, an egg yolk (helps em get nice n brown), milk (or cream if you're feeling a bit decadent) and my favorite lil trick is to add a bit of grated cheese. I'm a cheddar fan myself but parmesan or even a blue cheese might be kinda nice if you're into more of a stronger taste (but beware over powering the overall dish!). If you're looking for a lower fat option, skip the cheese and just use skim milk to get them creamier. Set the spuds aside for later.


On to the meat. Saute about 2 cloves of crushed garlic and a chopped onion in olive oil in a big aul pot. Throw in a couple of chopped up carrots and get them all nice and warmed up and sweaty and bright orange. Throw in some lean minced beef (or lamb or turkey or quorn, whatever floats yer boat) and get it nice and brown.

Add a bit of beef broth, tomato paste, herbs & spices, salt & crushed black pepper to taste, if it's looking a bit watery add some flour to thicken the broth - but not too much, you might need to counter-act the flour taste with a bit more herbs & spices.

Pop in some peas (frozen or fresh) wait til they get nice and bright green. When you're happy with your meat mixture, throw it into your baking dish and then spread the mashed potatoes evenly on top. On Sundays I'm usually feeling in the need of extra comfort food, so I grate a bit of cheese on the very top that gets all nice and brown and crusty when baked. Mmmmm....

Pop it into your preheated oven, you don't need to bake it too long - once the potatoes are warmed through and the top gets nicely browned it's ready. Eat. Enjoy. Watch Entourage. Sunday Night Bliss.



This entry get an angelic "loved it" vote for it's tasty and sustainable nature. Goooo pie!