Grab your green or get pinched! March 17th is Saint Patrick’s Day. Blogger and culinary adventurist Wendy Perry shares the following recipe to help you celebrate. We can’t promise you that it will bring you the luck of the Irish, but we do promise this is one dish that will make all the leprechauns in your family happy.
Perry blends together a traditional Irish Shepherd’s Pie with a uniquely North Carolina touch by adding sweet potatoes. She created the following recipe for Carolina Country Magazine. With winter weather rearing its head recently across the state, this pie offers a stick-to-your-ribs meal that will go great with a stout beer. For more recipes visit Wendy’s blog.
For other ideas on ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, check out Visit NC’s list of events.
- cooking oil
- 1 pound center cut country ham, cut in half-inch bites (we used Johnston County Hams)
- 8 cups chopped cabbage
- 6 leeks, trimmed, washed and thinly sliced
- 4 small carrots, shaved
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- *2 cups cooked butter beans
- 1 15-ounce can creamed corn
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- paprika
For topping, mix together:
- *3 cups cooked sweet potato
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 6 tablespoons honey
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly coat a large deep ovenproof skillet with oil. Sear ham over medium-high heat, stirring as it cooks, for 2 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon. Add cabbage, leeks, carrots and red pepper. Sauté until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in butter beans, corn, thyme and ham. Spoon topping over mixture and dust with paprika. Place into oven and bake 25-30 minutes until bubbly and cheese has melted in the potatoes!
* Cook sweet potatoes and butter beans ahead of time for faster assembly.