Shepherd's Pie Recipe

Shepherd's pie is one of those casserole dishes that you can make for dinner and it can be pretty balanced meal with those vegetables in it. It is also great for kids, some mashed potatoes, vegetables and some chicken, what else can they ask for?

In my case this also provides a good variety in our weekly menu as hubby is the type who wants to be surprised with different dishes each time. And being a potato and meat lover, this is just perfect for him.

The chicken filling is made with tomato pasta sauce base, and as I have discovered, this tomato base works damn well when cooked with a splash of red wine, or two! The alcohol just evaporates away leaving nice sweet taste to complement the savoury dish!

You need:

2 pieces of chicken breast, cubed, and marinated for tender soft pieces
1 cup of diced vegetables (celery, peas, corn, carrot, tomato)
1 onion, chopped
1/3 cup of tomato pasta sauce
1/4 cup of red wine
1/4 cup of water
some worcesterchire sauce
some spring onion, chopped long
some mixed herbs
4 large potatoes
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp milk
grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Boil the potatoes till soft. Mash with 1tbsp butter, milk and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Sautee the onion with the remaining butter. Add in the marinated chicken and cook for 5 minutes. Add in the diced vegetable and stir fry for a few minutes more.
3. Add in red wine, water and tomato sauce. Let it simmer at medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Season with mixed herb, salt and pepper.
4. Once done, set it into the baking dish. Spread spring onion over it.
5. Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the chicken layer, and you can use the fork to draw lines for some finishing touch. Bake in the oven at 180C for 20-30 minutes, till the potato layer starts to brown.

You can used minced chicken instead of cubed, but I was just too lazy to use the machine to mince it, hence cubed worked just fine as well! Other meats such as minced lamb or pork would work fine as well. You do not need spring onion if you don't have it. I always go through this phase of obedient ingredient (ala Roger Mooking) and I get into the groove and tend to use it in every dish possible. Spring onion it is right now, and I am loving it!

Its kinda embarrassing but as you can see I have been using my cake baking dish for my pie. The good news is I have bought a new and proper casserole baking dish, so watch out you netizens, I am gonna attack with more casserole dishes soon!