Chicken and spinach pie with mashed potato topping
Serves 4
Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 single skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1.5cm cubes
¼ cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken stock
150g washed spinach, chopped with stalks removed
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
800g agria potatoes, cooked and mashed
100g feta cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1. Heat a saucepan, add a little oil and the onion and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove to one side. Brown chicken in the same pan in two to three batches, adding more oil if needed. Remove to one side.
2. Stir flour into the oil remaining in the pan, mixing to form a smooth paste and adding a little more oil if necessary to reach this consis-tency. Add milk, stirring to form a smooth sauce, then add stock and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Return chicken and onion to the pan and stir in spinach and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cool, then spoon into a 2 litre capacity pie dish and top with mashed potato. Sprinkle the surface with feta.
4. Heat oven to 180°C. Bake pie for 40 minutes or until heated through and the topping is golden brown. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Tip: For an alternative topping, try mashed kumara or pumpkin. Or, omit the mash and cover the filling with shortcrust pastry.
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