St. Patrick's Day Cottage Pie

By KatrinaB

A hearty satisfying meal celebrating St. Patrick's day! Cottage Pie features ground beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, and cheese, yum! Drink your Irish stout beer and cook with it too, because this recipe features this truly scrumptious beverage as one of the ingredients. This recipe is perfect for your St. Patrick's Day party because it will fill a crowd of rumbling tummies.

Ingredients

• 3 large white potatoes, peeled
• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• 1/4 cup low fat milk
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• 2 tablespoons bacon grease, or butter
• 1 tablespoons prepared minced garlic
• 1 cup petite green peas, frozen
• 1.25-pounds ground beef, 80/20 meat to fat content
• 4 tablespoons Irish stout
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven 400°F.

Bring potatoes in salted water to boil and simmer until soft (about 20 minutes). Drain. Add milk, butter, salt & pepper to taste to the potatoes and whip with electric mixer. Set aside.

Melt half of bacon grease or butter in a heavy skillet and saute the onion and carrot until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute a minute more. Scoop out into a bowl and set aside.

In the same skillet melt bacon grease (or butter) and add ground beef. Salt and pepper to taste. Scramble the beef until brown, about 5 minutes. Drain fat. Add reserved onion, carrot, garlic and the stout. Stir to combine.

Pour ground meat into a deep pie plate.Top with peas. Spread the whipped potatoes over the top.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and top with cheddar cheese. Return casserole uncovered to oven for 10 minutes to melt the cheese.

Garnish with parsley.