Happy almost St. Patrick’s Day! This weeks #BakingWithBeth recipe doesn’t really involve anything pastry related, save for piping mashed potatoes (which was a first, and tons of fun!), but this Irish cottage pie involves Guinness and is in keeping with the March pie-theme. It’s the perfect recipe for St. Patrick’s Day dinner tomorrow!
Originally I called this a Guinness shepherd’s pie, but after consulting a few of British friends, they were quick to correct me that cottage pie uses minced ground beef and shepherd’s pie uses lamb (because shepherds & sheep…). I found one article that suggested the Irish use minced ground beef in their shepherd’s pie, but I was unable to find any historical research to confirm. Is it an Irish Guinness cottage pie? Is it an Irish Guinness shepherd’s pie? Perhaps it’s just a bit of a pie MASH up. Ha Ha!
I mean, what’s not to like? Meat, good. Mashed potatoes, good. Guinness, goooooood! 😉
What exactly is the difference between shepherd’s pie and cottage pie? In the States you don’t hear as much about a cottage pie, hence my confusion about the two dishes. Historically, the term cottage pie was used when referring to a type of meat pie that was used by peasants around the time of the introduction of potatoes to the UK and Ireland. It was a good way to use leftover meat, potatoes were an affordable crop and the peasants lived in cottages. The term cottage pie first appeared at the end of the 18th century and pre-dates shepherd’s pie by nearly a century. You can find lots more fun facts about the two meat pies from this Jamie Oliver article.
Recently, I did the Ancestry DNA test and it confirmed that I’m 42% Irish (who knew?!). And this recipe uses Guinness. So, that makes it a super authentic Irish Guinness cottage pie, right?! Either way, it’s really tasty and one I’ll definitely be making again! Originally, I toyed with making individual pies. I ended up purchasing a new baking dish from Crate & Barrel to make it and I loved it. It was the perfect size for a two-person dinner, with a small amount of leftovers!
Specialty Tools Needed:
- You can use any baking dish, but I used the Everyday Small Baking Dish from Crate & Barrel
- Piping Tips
If you’re brand new, we have a new recipe that comes out every Thursday. January covered all things Southern cakes: week one/caramel cake, week two/Hummingbird Cake, week three/sour cream pound cake and week four / pineapple upside down cake.
February was all about cookies!! Week five / best chocolate chip cookies, week six / Italian macarons and week seven / chocolate covered alfajores and the final week of the month, week eight / DYI Samoas Girl Scout cookie.
March is everything pi(e)! Week nine kicked off with a chocolate chip cookie with dulce de leche, week ten was my birthday mint chocolate chip grasshopper pie and a bonus Pi Day pizza pie recipe by a guest contributor!
If you’re a regular, thanks again for coming back for another #BakingWithBeth recipe! Be sure to follow along Instagram and Facebook and tag #BakingWithBeth so I can see what kind of recipe for adventures y’all have going on.
Have y’all ever had a Irish Guinness Cottage Pie? Those of y’all from (or have ancestry in) Ireland and the UK, share your secrets! 🙂
Cheers y’all!
Irish Guinness Cottage Pie
Mince meat pie with carrots, peas and topped with mashed potatoes. Can easily be doubled for more guests & a bigger baking dish!
Ingredients
- 1/2 TBSP olive oil
- 100 grams onion, diced small onion (or half large)
- 1 clove garlic
- 3/4 lb minced ground beef
- 7 grams butter (1/2 TBSP)
- 1 TBSP flour
- 150 grams frozen peas & carrots
- 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
- 1 TBSP Tomato paste
- 110 grams Guinness (1/2 cup)
- 93 grams chicken stock (1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp salt
- to taste pepper
Mashed Potatoes
- 2 large russet potatoes
- 1 tsp salt (to taste)
- 56 grams butter
- 55 grams milk
- 34 grams Irish cheddar
- 1 each egg yolk
Instructions
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Sauté onions in olive oil until translucent. Add in garlic and sauce for 30 seconds to one minute.
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Add minced ground beef and cook until brown. Drain the fat and return to the heat. Add butter, peas, carrots and flour. Stir until mixed together.
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Stir in Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and Guinness. Cook for a few minutes over a medium heat.
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Add chicken stock. Cook until mixture is thick and resembles a chunky, meat sauce.
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Pour meat sauce into a lightly greased baking dish and let cool completely.
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Peel potatoes and cut into chunks and place in a medium-large pot with salt and bring to a boil. Boil until potatoes are tender. Drain potatoes and put in a medium bowl.
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Add butter and mix together with a hand mixer. Slowly add milk and continue beating until smooth and creamy.
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Shred Irish cheddar into small pieces. Mix into the potatoes until completely incorporated and there are no lumps. Mix in one egg yolk.
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Put potatoes in piping bag with large tip. Pipe potatoes on top of cooled meat sauce.
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Bake on top of a sheet tray at 325 degrees Fahrenheit/163 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. After baked, place baking sheet and dish until the broiler for approximately 5 minutes, rotating frequently until potatoes are browned.
Recipe Notes
You could easily double this recipe and make in a larger dish for more people.
It also makes for excellent left overs!
This could serve 4 with small servings with a side of vegetables, or something. 🙂
Be careful when piping the potatoes if the cheese is too large. My first piping bag exploded due to a cheese blockage. 😉
I cooked it at a lower temp and then place under the broiler to not have the meat sauce bubble out of the potatoes.
