From The Happy Kitchen by Rachel Kelly and Alice Mackintosh
Ingredients
Serves 2
- 500g sweet or white potatoes
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 300g chicken thighs or breasts (skinless and boneless), chopped into 2cm chunks
- 1 leek, cut into slices
- 10 brown mushrooms, diced
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons wholegrain flour
- 50ml water
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 3 tablespoons creme fraiche
- ½ -1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- If using white potatoes, leave the skin on and chop them into small chunks. Boil them in a pan of salted water until they are soft. The time will depend on the size of the chunks but it should take no more than 15-20 minutes.
- If using sweet potatoes, peel them and chop them into chunks, toss them in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and bake them in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until they are soft (they absorb too much water if they are boiled).
- In a pan, fry the chicken with the leek in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil for 3 minutes, then add the mushrooms and lemon zest and cook for another 3-5 minutes. The chicken pieces should be around 80 per cent cooked by this point.
- Add the flour to thicken the sauce, stirring for around 2 minutes.
- Add the water and stir in the lemon juice, crème fraiche and mustard, then take off the heat.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, mash them with the remaining olive oil.
- Spoon the chicken mixture into a small baking dish, or 2 individual ramekins and spread the mashed potato over the top.
- Bake the pie(s) for 10-15 minutes in the oven. If you wish, you can place them under the grill to brown the mash before serving.
Chicken is rich in protein, as well as zinc and B vitamins, and sweet potatoes are a great source of fibre and betacarotene. If you prefer white ones, leave the skin on to retain the fibre.
Copyright Rachel Kelly 2016 | Photo credits: Laura Edwards