It's a Hearty Shepherds Pie With a Slight Twist. Perfect On a Cold Winter's Night.

My mother tends to make shepherds pie for the family, well this time I decided to give it a go. I totally ignored her recipe & made mines up as I went along. Surprisingly everyone loved it, so much so that my sister even took a portion for her work lunch. Lucky her I know (only joking) 

I scrapped the whole traditional way of making a shepherds pie & added all the things I love.

Imagine sitting round the dinner table on a cold night, digging into a warm shepherds pie, nothing could beat that right? Well how about giving it a go, I know I said I made it up but the end result was yummy. I think i'll go & have seconds now. 

So what's The twist? Well not only did I use parmesan & my home made jus in the mince mixture, I didn't just top it off with boring old plain mash, I added spring onions, lemon zest & yes you guessed it goats cheese to make a delicious creamy mash. How lush does that sound?

Ingredients for the Chicken mince mixture

1 1/2 pound chicken mince 

1 medium onion chopped finely

4 garlic cloves chopped finely

2 tbsp paprika

1tbsp red hot chilly powder

Salt & pepper to taste

Zest & juice of half a lemon

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2 tbsp tomato puree 

1 cup of my home made jus (if you haven't Got home made then just use gravy granuels mixed with water or chicken stock but home made has 10 times the flavor)

1 tsp chilly flakesd

1/4 cup olive oil

Splash of worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup of sweetcorn
Link for my home made jus:  http://chefzainab.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/i-like-peanuts-but-i-love-pistachios.html

Method

In a heavy based saucepan, add the 1/4cup olive oil, chopped onion & garlic, paprika & red hot chilly powder. Braise the onions & cook the spices (you don't want the taste of raw chilly powder, not good at all). Once the spices & onions are cooked down, add In the Chicken mince & cook for a further 8 minutes, Season with salt & pepper, keep tasting making sure you dont add too much salt. Once seasoned To youre liking Add the lemon zest & juice & chilly flakes and stir well. Add in the tomatoe puree & Worcestershire sauce & stir again. Once you have cooked the mixture add in the jus or stock & stir in the parmesan. Make sure you combine everything well & cook it down so its not too runny. Lastly add the sweetcorn, stir & transfer to a oven proof dish or Iindividual ramekins. Set aside to be topped of with mash.

Ingredients for the Mash

6 medium white potatoes cubed Skin peeled off

3 tbsp butter

1/2 cup double cream

1 cup chopped spring onions

50g crumbled goats cheese

Salt to taste

Zest & juice of half a lemon

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2 tsp english mustard

Method 

Add the cubed potatoes to a heavy sauce pan, boil some water and transfer to the potatoes with some salt & let them boil until fully cooked. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and transfer back in to the pan. Mash up the potatoes, add in the butter, double cream, goats cheese, parmesan cheese, lemon zest, juice & English mustard. Mash up together making sure there are no lumps. Using a wooden spoon stir in the spring onions & add salt (Make sure you keep tasting making sure you dont over season it)

Once everything is well combined, transfer the mash ontop of the mince mixture & grate over a generous amount of parmesan cheese. Garnish with thinly sliced tomatoes & bake in the oven till its golden brown on the top. Serve with a fresh salad & dig in.

Bon Apetite!