Just as we finish recovering from one holiday another one sneaks up on us. Why is that? First Thanksgiving, then in what seemed like a day later, Christmas came, then New Year’s, Valentine’s Day and now St. Patrick’s Day. All which seem to come and go in the blink of an eye, although I’m not complaining, because with each holiday that passes, it brings us closer to warmer weather, something I’m desperate for.
Plus THIS holiday is one of my favorites, what’s not to love about St.Patrick’s Day? Great food. No presents to buy. And it’s just an all-around good time!
I’m all about the food when it comes to holidays, I take pride in going all out and coming up with festive new ways to serve holiday classics, and these Shepard’s Pie Twice Baked Potatoes have got to be one of my favorite holiday creations yet – they’re so good!
The classic Shepard’s pie filling of ground beef, tomato, crisp carrots and sweet peas is made traditionally, but instead of throwing everything into a casserole dish and slapping mashed potatoes over the top, I hollowed out a few baked potatoes and stuffed the filling inside the empty cavity.
The insides of the baked potato get mashed with a little bit of butter, sour cream (or Greek yogurt), half and half and plenty of kosher salt. They’re transferred to a ziplock baggie with the end cut off, piped over the meat mixture and popped under the broiler until the potatoes are golden brown. If you want to get fancy like I did, just place a large star tip in the corner of the ziplock and pipe it that way.
Individual Shepard’s Pies. So cute. So festive.
- 4 large russet potatoes
- 1 pound lean ground beef or sirloin
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2½ tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon dry rosemary
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup beef stock
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ cup frozen peas
- ½ cup half and half
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 1 egg yolk
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pierce potatoes with fork and rub with canola oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until soft, about 45 minutes.
- While the potatoes are baking, make the filling. Brown ground beef in a large, non-stick skillet. Once the beef is browned, drain fat and add carrots, onion, garlic, rosemary and salt. Cook for 7-8 minutes until veggies soften.
- Add tomato paste, cook another minute.
- Add Worcestershire sauce, beef stock and sugar. Cook until stock has reduced, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add frozen peas. Cook one minute until defrosted. Set aside.
- Once potatoes have cooked, remove from oven and increase heat to a broil.
- Cut the potato lenth-wise on top, but do not cut all the way through. Using a spoon remove potatoes, leaving just a line of potato to hold the skin up.
- Place insides in a bowl and mash with a potato masher until smooth. Add half and half, sour cream, butter, egg yolk and remaining salt to potatoes. Mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
- Scoop filling into potato skins.
- Transfer potato mixture to a ziplock baggie fit with a large star tip, or just cut the corner off the bag. Pipe the potatoes on top of the filling.
- Pop under the broiler until top of potatoes are golden brown, about five minutes.
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These are so adorable. and they look incredible. LOVE Shepard’s pie
Amazing.. I wounder if you could make the filling and potatoes separate ahead of time and then cook them in the oven together at the end.
Oh, you totally could!
This is freaking GENIUS!!!!!!!