Recipe: Chicken and Mushroom Pie

Pies make great comfort food and a good distraction when you are supposed to be working. For this recipe I decided to use sweet potato mash on top in the place of pastry and I think it works really well. I love sweet potato and use them in the place of "ordinary potato" whenever I can.

Estimated cost per portion: £1.55
Estimated calories per portion: 356

Makes 2/3 portions.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 chicken breasts
• 150g (1 pack) of baby button mushrooms or any other mushrooms
• 1 medium red onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 142ml of single cream
• 1 tbsp of plain flour
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 handful of fresh thyme (torn into pieces)
• 1 handful of fresh curly leaf parsley (torn into pieces)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190 deg. centigrade.
2. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into small chunks. Cover with water and set to boil in a large saucepan. When the chunks are soft to a mashing consistency ~ 10 mins, drain and return to the pan. Add a small pinch of the thyme and parsley and season with a little salt and pepper. Mash with a potato masher and set to one side.
3. Wash the mushrooms and cut into halves. Finely slice the red onion and garlic. Cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.
4. In a large wide pan heat the olive oil then when hot add the onion and garlic. Stir all the time and then once the onion has become translucent add the chicken. Sear the chicken pieces on each side so that the outsides are cooked. Then add the mushrooms, thyme and parsley. Once the mushrooms are cooked through turn the heat down.
5. With the heat turned down mix the plain flour into the chicken and mushrooms. Add the cream and stir until a thick sauce is formed. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Transfer the chicken and mushroom mixture into an oven proof pie dish. (I used a Le Creuset shallow casserole dish which can be used on the stove top and in the oven). Spoon the mash on top and use a fork to spread it out evenly over the top and use to fluff up the surface. 
7. Pop in the oven and cook for 20-30 mins.
8. Eat and enjoy! Nice with Lea & Perrins

L xx