I hope this savory shepherd’s pie, free of the eight common food allergens, is something you find delicious, comforting and satisfying. I want to tell you a secret about the mashed potatoes: keep the colander in the cabinet and don’t pour out all of the potato water. Leave about an inch of the potato water in the bottom of your stockpot as your liquid for mashing. There is a lot of flavor in that water (and also nutrients). Also, it’s easier and less expensive than using a milk substitute. As you know, I’m a fan of spending as little of my money on special ingredients as I can, so I used olive oil instead of earth balance, at least for the potatoes. Many of these ingredients are from ALDI. I shop there for many things so that I can save my money for things like the special ingredients I can’t do without. Okay, enough chit-chat, here is the recipe:
Peel, wash and put your potatoes in a large stock pot with boiling water. You only need about 6-8 potatoes but I make a whole bunch to save for leftovers. Start boiling your potatoes (Idaho potatoes work best for mashing but feel free to use what you have on hand). While those are cooking, prepare your chicken filling.
In a deep skillet add:
One package of chicken tenders (about 2 pounds) – you can even put them in frozen, they’ll just have to cook longer until done. I do this all the time since I’m not a fan of using the microwave. If you have only chicken thighs or legs, or you’d rather do this with beef, lamb or pork, go for it!
1 yellow or white onion, medium diced
1 green bell pepper, medium diced
8 fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 stalks celery, small diced
10-15 baby carrots
water for simmering (the water will pick up flavor of everything, no need for broth)
1 tsp dried sage
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1-2 tsp salt
fresh cracked pepper to taste
Cover and simmer over medium heat until your chicken is cooked all the way through and your carrots and celery are tender. Watch and add more water if needed as you don’t want it to burn. When done, lower temperature and add:
1/4 cup of earth balance or olive oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp yellow or dijon mustard
If you don’t have the earth balance or nutritional yeast, don’t fret, this will still taste good!
Stir and keep warm while you prepare the potatoes as follows:
Drain the potato water until you are left with about 1 inch of water at the bottom. Keep the water in there. Add 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 Tbsp onion powder, 1-2 tsp salt and cracked pepper to taste. Always taste and be sure you like it.
Set your oven to broil (or 500 degrees Fahrenheit) and then assemble the pie. Add the filling to an 8-inch or 9-inch pie dish, top with enough mashed potatoes to cover and then sprinkle 1/4 cup rice flour or your favorite gluten free flour blend on top. Using a pastry brush, lightly drizzle 1/8 cup of olive or vegetable oil over the the flour, getting as much of the flour oiled up as you can. Dust with paprika, salt, pepper, and ground mustard. I found a spice grinder at ALDI for poultry and I love it for this application (it has all of the spices I just mentioned and no bad additives).
Put your oven rack to the top of your oven, put in your pie and broil for 5-15 minutes or until golden brown on top. Depending on the type of oil and flour you use for your topping, this time can vary so keep a close watch on it to make sure it doesn’t burn.
Serve with chopped fresh rosemary. If you don’t have fresh rosemary, dried rosemary or dried Italian seasoning would also work.
If you have any questions, let me know. Happy Eating!
Like this:
Like Loading...
Safe Eats 