I thought for today’s First Friday link-up, it would be fun to have a St. Patrick’s Day theme! Scroll to the bottom of this post to see everyone’s ideas and add your own links.
As many of you already know, I have a St. Patrick’s Day article out in Catholic Digest this month. I was really excited about the projects I got to share! There are directions in the article for making a shepherd’s pie with a green pepper shamrock on top, but they didn’t end up using my pictures- they used stock photos. I felt like that project really missed its punch without the photos, so I wanted to share them with all of you.
The reason why I made a shepherd’s pie is that St. Patrick worked as a shepherd boy when he was a slave. The shamrock embellishes the top at St. Patrick’s symbol for the Trinity- one clover, 3 leaves!
You have to be choosy when selecting a green pepper for this project! You need a green pepper with only 3 bulbs- not 4! If you get one with 4, when you slice it, it will look like a 4 leaf clover, not a shamrock. A 3 petaled shamrock is a great symbol of the Trinity. A 4 leaf clover is a good luck charm carried by Leprechauns and adorns rainbows and pots of gold.
Ingredients needed:
• 1 pound ground beef
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen carrots
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 ½ cups mashed potatoes
• 1 green pepper (with three lobes)
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Brown the ground beef and add the broth, then salt and pepper to taste. Mix in the peas and carrots, and then put the ground beef mixture into a pie or casserole dish. Arrange the mashed potatoes on top however you’d like. Slice the green pepper crossways to get a shamrock shape, and add another sliver to make the stem. You’ll get the best shamrock shape from a slice close to the end of the pepper. Add this “shamrock” on top of the mashed potatoes to garnish the pie. Bake at 350 until the pie is warm throughout, and the mashed potatoes start to brown on the edges.
We got fancy and piped on the mashed potatoes with an icing tip. 🙂 You could just make the top swirly with a fork if you’re looking to make it easier.
I think this is a really fun dinner to serve up for St. Patrick’s Day! What are your plans for celebrating this great feast day?
Shamrock Shepherd’s Pie for St. Patrick’s Day
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup frozen carrots
- 1 cup beef broth
- 2 ½ cups mashed potatoes
- 1 green pepper with three lobes
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef and add the broth, then salt and pepper to taste.
- Mix in the peas and carrots, and then put the ground beef mixture into a pie or casserole dish.
- Arrange the mashed potatoes on top however you’d like.
- Bake at 350 until the pie is warm throughout, and the mashed potatoes start to brown on the edges.
- Slice the green pepper crossways to get a shamrock shape, and add another sliver to make the stem. You’ll get the best shamrock shape from a slice close to the end of the pepper. Add this “shamrock” on top of the mashed potatoes to garnish the pie.
Notes
My kids love Shepherd pie! Nice idea to serve it on St Patrick’s day! Thanks for the link-up, too, Lacy!
But I haven’t had a chance to post my new St Patrick crafts yet!!! Our homeschool group has a geography fair this weekend and things have been busy!!! My kids never want to miss that fair and their projects are HUGE this year!! Thanks again! God Bless!
I have the linky open for awhile. Just add the other links whenever you have them. 🙂
Thanks, Lacy! I just added my newest post to your link up, but it’s still not my St. Patrick craft/game! 😉 Maybe in a day or two! Thanks so much! God Bless you and your family! Hope you are all well!
That looks absolutely beautiful … and delicious…and now I’m inspired.
This is a new recipe for me, I would love to try it. Thank you for sharing it and for the linky!! Hope everything is going well for you in yur new house : )
Hello! I am doing my “St Patricks Day Blessings” linky again this year…same linky actually, just moved back up to the forefront of my blog. If you would like to add this post to the linky I’d love you to!
http://scribbleprints.blogspot.com/2012/03/st-patricks-day-journey-with-linky.html
Awesome idea, and congratulations on being published! I love making my shepherd’s pie with ground lamb… so yummy, and really makes you understand why it is called “shepherd’s pie”. Maybe if I had teenage girls they might not like that too much but we do ;). Thanks for the great ideas!!
I’d never tried Shepard’s Pie until we were in Ireland (for Saint Patrick’s Day!), and their version was yummy – yours sounds great, too! Think I’ll give it a try this weekend. I’m good to go on desserts, as we made some cupcakes and cake to celebrate the feast of Saint Patrick. Feel free to give any a try! http://enterundermyroof.blogspot.com/search/label/saint%20patrick%27s%20day