CHICKEN CURRY & POTATO PIE

Sometimes during winter you just feel like a super hearty, starchy meat pie. Unfortunately, whilst I can cook this for my respective other, I cannot eat it without suffering some serious digestive problems from the gluten & milk solids in the pastry. However, I can certainly post the recipe for others to enjoy! Whilst the cooking process is around 1 hour for this lovely pie, the manual labour is not intensive at all, as that hour consists of leaving the chicken mixture to simmer on the stove and bake in the oven. Basically all you have to do is cut up the chicken and potato. As I was running spectacularly late the night I made this pie, I did not even consider adding more vegetables, however you could add all means of ingredients to the pie, such as carrots, celery, peas, sweet potato etc.  There is nothing quite like a warm, toasty pie to eat on a chilly winter’s night. Hurry up and get baking before September comes! 

INGREDIENTS

• 400-425g potatoes (such as sebago potatoes), peeled & cut into 2cm pieces 
• 300g chicken breast, cut into even 3-4cm pieces
• 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock 
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil (in liquid form), plus extra to grease pie tin
• 2 sheets of reduced-fat puff pastry, thawed 

COOKING 

1. Preheat fan-forced oven to 200 degrees celsius. 

2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, adding garlic, onion and parsley. Stir well for 2 minutes or until onion is soft. Add chicken to the pan and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until chicken is white in colour and cooked through. Add potato pieces, tossing to coat. Pour stock and curry powder into the pan and bring to the boil. When boiling, reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, covered. 

3. Meanwhile, grease a circular pie tin with coconut oil and gently place one thawed pastry sheet on the bottom of the tin. You may find that some of the pastry will cover half of the sides of the tin, this is ok. When the chicken mixture has simmered for 20 minutes, pour into the prepared pie tin, taking care to only pour in a quarter of the liquid stock. Cover with another thawed pastry sheet. Do not worry if some of the pastry folds over the tin, as it will shrink during baking. 

4. Bake the pie in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until pastry crust is golden brown. Serve warm. 

Serves / 6 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 60 - 65 minutes 

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SHEPHERD'S PIE

Today was a blissful day. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming and I was cooking up a storm. I have been wanting to make a Shepherd’s Pie for a few weeks now, but have not had enough time to form a recipe and bake. This recipe is actually quite simple to my Bolognese recipe, minus /plus a few different ingredients and the pasta of course. The sliced potatoes on top are different from the traditional mashed potatoes, however I wanted to avoid using any milk, cheese or butter / margarine. Shepherd’s pie to me is the ultimate comfort food and perfect for a frosty night like tonight.

INGREDIENTS

• 500g extra lean beef mince
• 3 large sebago potatoes, peeled & sliced
• 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely diced or minced
• 1 x 800g tin diced tomatoes
• 1 medium carrot, peeled & finely chopped
• 1 cup peas, fresh or thawed if frozen
• 500ml (2 cups) beef stock
• 2 tablespoons fresh or dried rosemary, plus extra to sprinkle over potatoes
• sea salt & black pepper
• coconut oil (liquid form)

COOKING 

1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180 degrees celsius. 

2. Heat a large, deep frying pan over medium heat, adding 1 teaspoon coconut oil (liquid form) and swirling to coat pan. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until onion is soft. Add beef mince and cook, breaking apart lumps with a metal spoon, until all mince is browned. Add carrots, tomatoes, rosemary and beef stock and stir well. Bring to the boil, then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid, add the peas and simmer, covered for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat. 

3. Meanwhile, place potato slices in a large plate and cover with glad wrap. Place in the microwave on high for 8 minutes. Remove from the microwave.

4. Lightly grease a deep ovenproof pan with coconut oil. Pour the beef and vegetable mixture into the pan and top with the sliced potatoes. Sprinkle more rosemary on top of the potatoes if you desire. Cook for 40 minutes in the oven or until potatoes become golden brown. Remove from heat and serve warm. 

Serves / 4 - 6

Total Preparation time / 17 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 1 hour 25 minutes 

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