St. Patrick's Day is Sunday March 17! Gluten free Shepherd's Pie is one of my family's absolute hands-down most favorite meals. I have a more traditional recipe, topped with mashed potatoes, in my first cookbook, but this time I decided to switch it up a bit. Just a bit! Scalloped potatoes on top cut the prep time since you don't have to peel, boil and mash those potatoes.
The rest is pretty simple, youknow? Sauteed vegetables, ground beef, some tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce round out the flavor just right. Do you need to be Irish to eat like the Irish? Um, I sure hope not. Some of my best friends are Irish, but I, myself, only have my love of “Danny Boy” to boast. No Irish roots. Not a one.
Just look at those tender and crispy scalloped potatoes on top! Oh my word. There are already recipes for gluten-free grasshopper brownies and Shamrock Shake Cupcakes on the blog, and next week I'll knock your socks off with some more perfectly Irish desserts for your St. Patrick's Day. For now, Erin go Bragh!
Scalloped Potato Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
Filling
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
3 large stalks of celery, diced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups (12 fl. oz.) chicken stock
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons (18 grams) high-quality all-purpose gluten-free flour (any kind will do)
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
Topping
2 pounds medium-sized red-skin potatoes, washed and dried well
2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter, melted
Kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease a 4-quart baking dish and set it aside. In a large pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery, and cook until all the vegetables are soft and the onion and celery are translucent (about 7 minutes). Add the stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and flour, stirring to combine well after each addition. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat, then uncover and allow to continue to cook and reduce.
In a separate pan, saute the ground beef in the remaining tablespoon of oil until browned. Set the pan aside. Cut the potatoes in cross-section in pieces about 1/8 inch thick. Blot the slices with a paper towel to remove any surface moisture.
Once the vegetable mixture is reduced by 1/4, add the browned ground beef and stir to combine. Transfer the whole mixture to the prepared baking dish, and spread into an even layer. Place the sliced potatoes over the top of the casserole dish, overlapping one on the other, in concentric circles (see photo). Brush all the exposed tops of the potatoes with melted butter, and sprinkle liberally with salt, to taste.
Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil, and place it in the center of the preheated oven. Bake until the potatoes are fork-tender (about 20 minutes). Remove the foil, and place the dish directly under your oven’s broiler. Turn on the broiler for about 4 minutes, until the potatoes are browned and crisp. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Adapted from Gluten-Free on a Shoestring: 125 Easy Recipes For Eating Well on the Cheap (Da Capo 2011).
Kay Harris says
Those scalloped potatoes look really good – but
Where do you find Worchestershire Sauce that is gluten free?
Thanks,
Kay
Carole says
Lea & Perrins
Jmw77355 says
looks delicious.Don’t have any red potatoes today so I am going to try it with sweet potatoes for supper tonight.
Dana Schwartz says
Not Irish here by a long shot, but my favorite color used to be green. Anyhow, this meal looks easy and hearty and simple enough re: ingredients to appease my wild picky beasts (ie kid + husband). Not to mention tasty!
Up next, iced lemon pound cake or choco almond butter brownies… You don’t make it easy, I have to tell you.
-Dana
Ligea says
I’d chew my arm off for a bit of those!
Casseyandtyler says
This looks AMAZINGLY yummy!!! Thank you so much for posting and I look forward to making it this weekend!
Carole says
Have all the ingredients and we are not waiting for St. Patrick’s Day this is on the menu for tonight.
Looks like it it would be great for our next family camping trip in three weeks. Will double the recipe.
You are truly appreciated.
Pamela Gordon says
I have awful memories of scalloped potatoes from my youth (suffice it to say, the subject came UP…) , but I am so very intrigued by this! I will be assembling this for dinner perhaps Sunday. I’ll let you know the outcome! Thank you for making them look so non-threatening……