Chicken Shepherds Pie

Anyone would think it was Winter time with all my wintry recipes. It's not but the weather isn't really summery and Mr CLI has been under the weather this week. so I thought this would be great comfort food for him last night, and I was right.

Not only did he have one large serving he then asked for and ate another huge portion.

As I have never made this before it was very gratifying that he liked it so much. So this recipe will be another one add to the mental collection of recipes we all liked.

Now you can make this earlier in the day, or even the day before,  then pop it in the oven closer to tea time. The only thing is you will need to cook it longer to heat it through.

I made mine a hour or so before I put it in the oven, it took 20 minutes till the filling was bubbling then another 15 minutes till the top was lovely and brown and crispy, which is a must for a Shepherds Pie a crispy potato top.

Chicken Shepherds Pie
2 skinless chicken breast, chopped into 1cm cubes or 500 gms chicken mince, 2 medium carrots finely diced, 1 stalk celery finely diced, 2 large tbsps chopped parsley, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 1/2 red capsicum diced. 1/2 red onion finely diced, 2 large garlic cloves finely diced, 2 tbsps tomato paste, 3 tbsps Worcestershire sauce, 1 can crushed tomatoes or 500 ml tomato passatta, 1 cup water, salt and pepper

Topping - Mashed potato, but make it with less milk, if it is too soft it won't crisp up in the oven

Preheat to 200c. I used a 20 - 25 cm pyrex dish.

In a large fypan heat 2 tbsps olive oil add carrots, celery, onion and capsicum, cook 2 -3 minutes. Add chicken and garlic cook till the chicken has turned white, if using mince make sure you break up the lumps.

Push the chicken and vegetables to the edge of the frypan put the tomato paste in the centre let cook for 1 minute, then stir into the chicken and vegetables. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat to medium and let simmer till the sauce has thicken 15 - 30 minutes.

Once cooked and the sauce has thickened put into your baking dish.

The filling awaiting is cloud of creamy mashed potato. After topping the filling with the mash score it with a fork, the ridges you create will crisp in the oven.

Spray the the top with olive oil spray this will help in the crisping. Bake for 30 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the top is brown and crispy. Serves 4