March has arrived and with that comes longer days, the hope of warmer weather, spring break, lots of “green” food, and St. Patrick’s Day.

This hearty and delicious recipe for Irish Shepherd’s Pie is easy to make and will be sure to please your family and guests on St. Patrick’s Day. This recipe is slightly different from the traditional Irish Shepherd’s Pie recipe because it is vegetarian and uses a tofu based ground beef substitute instead of lamb.

Irish Shepherd’s Pie

Irish Shepherd's PieIngredients

Mashed Potato Layer

  • 5 potatoes
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons cream cheese
  • 2 teaspoons salt

Filling Layer

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 – 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 pinch ground black pepper to taste
  • 14 oz of your favorite vegetarian ground beef substitute
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

  1. Peel potatoes and cut into chunks. Place the potatoes in a pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil the potatoes until tender, drain and set aside.
  2. Mix together the mayonnaise, milk, olive oil, cream cheese. Once mixed, add salt and pepper, pour in potatoes and mash until smooth and fluffy. Set the mixture aside.
  3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 2-quart baking dish with butter or cooking spray.
  4. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan over medium heat, sautee the onion, carrots, celery, frozen peas, and tomato until soft. Stir in the Italian seasoning, garlic, and pepper.
  5. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and crumble the vegetarian ground beef into the pan with the vegetable mixture. Cook and mix together until the mixture is hot, about 5 minutes.
  6. Spread the vegetable mixture into the bottom of the baking dish, and top with the mashed potato mixture. Smooth the mixture as an even top layer. Sprinkle the potatoes with the shredded cheddar cheese.
  7. Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is melted and slightly browned and the casserole is hot, about 20 – 30 minutes.

Serves 6 – 8 people