Chicken Potato Top Pie - Recipe

I've been making this pie (or versions of it) for years. I didn't even consider posting it until a friend that visited this afternoon said 'I'd make that', so here it is.

The original recipe had a pastry topping. I started putting potato on top as a 'lower fat' option, but suspect that the mashed potato I make for it now is probably as bad as pastry!

The pictured pie has leeks and mushrooms in it but I also make it with celery and broccoli. I've made it with corn, carrots..pretty much whatever is in the fridge. My aim is usually to include as much vegetable as possible, so I can get away with not doing too much to go with it.

I never make this quite the same and trying to get quantities for someone else to make was a bit of a challenge. I like quite chunky bits of chicken and lots of sauce in it.

I pretty much always do a huge recipe and freeze half for a night when I want a reasonable meal but am really busy.

(If you plan to freeze it don't use mushrooms as they are odd when frozen and reheated)

(If you are planning on freezing half, double most of the measurements below)

This is also the meal I make to take to people who have just had babies, are sick or are having a hard time because it is so easy to either reheat or freeze.

Chicken and Potato Top Pie

Potatoes - peeled and chopped into large chunks

butter

garlic salt

grated tasty cheese

milk

Chicken (thighs are best because they don't dry out) - about 750g

oil - 1 tbs

60gm butter

2 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)

2 stalks of celery (and/or 2 leeks, maybe mushrooms...)

1 onion chopped

1/4 cup flour (you may need to stir in a bit more if it is too runny)

1-2 cups chicken stock (homemade is best!)

1 cup milk

1 tsp finely chopped rosemary (this is really important)

1 tsp finely chopped parsley

Potato Top

Peel potatoes and start cooking in salted water then going on with the pie filling steps below.

When cooked, drain water and mash with butter, garlic salt, cheese and a little milk to get it to a creamy consistency.

Pie Filling

Brown chicken in oil, then take out of pan and set aside.

Melt butter in frying pan and cook vegetables till soft.

Stir in flour and cook for a few minutes.

Remove from the heat and slowly stir in stock and milk. Bring back to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.

Stir in chicken and herbs. Season if necessary - this will depend on how salty your stock was).

Spoon pie filling into a deep dish. This recipe bubbles up and over the top of the dish if the potato topping is too near the top...no matter how many times I make this dish I get caught out with an oven that needs cleaning afterwards.

Topping

Spoon the potato over the top being careful not to push it down into the pie mixture.

Grate cheese over the top.

Bake at about 200 C for abut 30 minutes - until bubbling and the topping started to go golden.

If you are freezing it, you don't need to bake until you are ready to use it.

If baking from frozen allow about 40-50 minutes.