Individual Shepherds Pie of Sorts

I qualified the title of this post with “of sorts” because I used ground beef rather than ground lamb in the dish. While this is common it is not technically correct as the version made with beef should be called Cottage Pie.

I made these quite small in one 8oz dishes as I was serving them as part of a bigger meal you can of course make them larger or in one large dish. I excluded peas from this only because  am not a fan of peas in this dish.

• 1lb Ground Beef or Lamb
• 3 Cloves Of Chopped Garlic
• 1 cup of Diced Onions
• 1 cup of Diced Carrots
• 2 Tablespoon of Tomato Paste
• 1 Tablespoon of AP flour
• 2 Cups of Beef Broth
• 2  Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce
• Salt and Pepper To Taste

Sauté your beef over medium heat till it is lightly browned. Remove beef from pan with a slotted spoon and reserve till later. Discard all but enough of the grease to sauté the vegetables. Sauté vegetables and garlic till lightly browned. Mix in tomato paste and allow to cook for two minutes. Add flour and mix. Return meat to the pan and mix. Add beef broth and Worcestershire Sauce. Stir, brig to a simmer and allow to cook for 15mins stirring frequently.
Divide mixture between six  8oz baking dishes or whatever dish you have decided on. I feel it is better to allow the mixture to cool completely and somewhat set before topping with mashed potato.
You can top this with whatever your favorite mashed potato recipe is. I would recommend making your potato a little dry and adding a couple of raw egg yolks to the mix as it really helps to give the potatoes a golden brown look when you bake the dish.
I also sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top before baking, this is certainly not Irish but add so much to the taste it is best not to quibble.

And here is another very tasty piece of Irish comfort food that has so many memories for me.
http://www.theculinarylens.com/2011/05/not-your-mothers-dublin-coddle.html