Catfish Out of Water

It's Saint Patrick's Day. And, while I'm Scottish and Welsh, not Irish, and don't have any allegiance to the Patron Saint of Ireland who's credited with spreading Catholicism to Ireland or theoretically banishing snakes from the island that absolutely already didn't have snakes. Not to mention that, despite the saint being heralded in Ireland for years, the first St. Patrick's Day Parade was held in Florida (History, "Surprising Facts About St. Patrick's Day"). In true American fashion, I do enjoy any excuse to drink and be festive! This year I decided that I would try my hand at a Guinness Shepherd's Pie.

I'd never made Shepherd's Pie before. But the basics are potatoes, carrots, peas, corn, and various other ingredients that I would affectionately call "peasant food." A lot of the time there's ground beef or lamb, but I don't tend to eat much meat and decided to opt for a lentil version, instead. And I thought that it would be fun to make the mashed potatoes on top green, so I added a hefty dose of spinach to add a natural green hue! After that, it's basically just sautéing the vegetables, simmering down some Guinness and Worcestershire sauce, topping with mashed potatoes, and baking! So, I figured, how hard could it be?

As it turns out, not hard at all! This green-tined Guinness shepherd's pie was absolutely delicious. It's going to be my go-to staple for every St. Patrick's Day in the future!

Gallery

Variations of Guinness Shepherd's Pie

I don't often make pies. They always seem more daunting than is worth. After all, making pie dough? Although in my wheelhouse? Tedious and time consuming! Not to mention a little bit trickier than a lot of the time I want to endeavor into. Savory pies are typically the opposite, though. A lot of the time you can get away with not making a pie crust. Which makes them a casserole. And casseroles tend to be fairly simply throwing a bunch of ingredients together and baking for 45 minutes.

Lasagna w/ Spinach & Tomatoes

Spinach Pie

Macaroni and Cheese w/ Spinach & Squash Salsa Verde

Shepherd's Pie w/ Spinach Mashed Potatoes & Guinness

Step up your St. Patrick's Day game with this Guinness Shepherd's Pie! The mashed potatoes are naturally dyed green with the addition of freshly puréed spinach. The rest of the recipe is a more traditional vegetable medley. I swapped out the meat for lentils in this vegetarian version of the dish. Although you can easily sautée ground beef or lamb and use beef stock, instead of vegetable stock. I also tossed in some Guinness because it's St. Patrick's Day and you almost can't make food without beer today!

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Main Course

Cuisine British, Irish

Servings 8 servings

Equipment

• Large Pot
• Stovetop
• Food Processor (optional)
• Potato Masher (or large fork or mixer)
• Rice Cooker (or pot on the stove)
• Oven-safe Saucepan (I used a wide Dutch Oven, but a large saucepan and baking dish are also fine)
• Oven

Ingredients

  

Mashed Potatoes

• 1 ½ lbs. russet potatoes ~3 large, diced
• 2 c. spinach puréed
• 1/3 c. Guinness (or milk)
• 2 tbsp. butter
• dash salt
• dash pepper

Lentils

• 1 c. green lentils
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• dash salt
• dash pepper
• 2 c. water

Pie Filling

• 2 carrots diced
• 1/2 yellow onion diced
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 c. peas
• 1/2 c. corn
• 1 tomato minced
• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c. vegetable broth
• 3/4 c. Guinness
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

 

Mashed Potatoes

• Peel and cube the potatoes. Place in a large pot and cover with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil for 10-15 minutes, or until tender.
• Meanwhile, place spinach in a food processor and purée until almost smooth.

  Alternatively, you can dice them finely, although you won't get the same allover green color if it isn't puréed pretty smoothly. You're really trying to extract the liquid here to dye the potatoes green!
• Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water and place back in the pot. Add the spinach purée, 1/3 cup Guinness, butter, salt, and pepper. Mash with a potato masher until light and fluffy. Making sure to scrape the sides and stir occasionally.
• Set aside.

Lentils

• Add the lentils, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, and water to a rice cooker. Press the cook button.

  This should take less than 45 minutes and can be done either before thee mashed potatoes, simultaneously while you're making the mashed potatoes, or afterwards. Just make sure to start it before the pie filling!

Pie Filling

• Add carrots and onion to a large oven-safe saucepan and drizzle with olive oil. Cook on medium heat (about a 5 or 6 on my stove) for 10 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Stir occasionally.

  I used a wide Dutch Oven that is both stovetop and oven-safe. You can alternatively use a separate saucepan and baking dish. I just found this easier! But absolutely use whatever you have on hand. You don't have to run out to get all sorts of fancy kitchen appliances!
• Add the peas and corn. Cook for another 5 minutes, making sure to still stir occasionally.
• Mix in the minced tomato and flour.

  A lot of recipes here will call for tomato paste, but it really isn't necessary! It's just for consistency and a well-diced or pulverized tomato will do just fine.
• At about this point you're going to want to preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Add vegetable broth, Guinness, and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced.

  My pot wasn't large enough to add all of the liquid at once, so I did this in stages as it cooked down.

Bake Shepherd's Pie

• Once the mashed potatoes, lentils, and pie filling are done, it's time to assemble and bake!
• Stir the lentils into the pie filling and spread spinach mashed potatoes on top.
• Place in the oven and cook at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes.

  Everything is already still cooked and likely still warm, so this doesn't take too much time in the oven! The mashed potatoes should just slightly begin to brown and you're set to serve immediately.

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

• I only briefly described how to make mashed potatoes or lentils here because they're a very minor steps in this process! But they can be deceptively simple and I would never suggest buying powdered mashed potatoes out of a bag. For a more in-depth article on the matter, check out The Fundamentals of Making Mashed Potatoes and The Fundamentals of Cooking Lentils.
• This recipe is almost vegan and gluten free, but not quite! There is gluten in almost all beer and I added flour for consistency. You can get away with not adding the flour, but it might be a bit trickier to find a Guinness without barley in it!
• Butter and Worcestershire sauce are also not vegan, although can easily be substituted. It would also be important to find a beer manufacturer that doesn't use animal byproducts in the refining process. Guinness Draught, Guinness Extra Stout and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout don't use isinglass in the filtration process and are vegan (Guinness' "Frequently Asked Questions").