Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 90 minutes
Cut: Ground chicken
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Topping:
5 medium (3 lbs) sweet potatoes, skins on
2 Tbsp (30 ml) butter
1 cup (250 ml) ricotta cheese
½ tsp (2.5 ml) salt
½ tsp (2.5 ml) black pepper
Filling:
2 Tbsp (30 ml) canola oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ lbs (675 g) ground chicken
1/2 cup (125 ml) chicken broth
1/2 cup (125 ml) crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup (60 ml) flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 Tbsp (15 ml) tomato paste
½ tsp (2.5 ml) ground cumin
½ tsp (2.5 ml) ground coriander
½ tsp (2.5 ml) ground cinnamon
¼ tsp (1.25 ml) cayenne pepper
1 cup (250 ml) frozen peas
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400F.
Wash sweet potatoes and prick with a fork. Place on a baking sheet. bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until potatoes yield easily and are soft when pricked with a fork. Remove from oven and let cool.
Scoop cooked sweet potato flesh into a large bowl. Add the butter, ricotta cheese, salt and pepper. Mix with a fork until potato mixture is light and fluffy. Set aside. In a 10 -12 " oven-proof skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook stirring occasionally until translucent. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds.
Add ground chicken, stirring to break-up meat until browned (about 7-10 minutes). Turn heat down to medium, add broth and cook until absorbed. Add crushed tomatoes, parsley, tomato paste, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and cayenne pepper, stir to combine. Turn down heat to low, cook an additional 5 minutes to let flavours combine. Remove from heat and stir in frozen peas.
Dollop sweet potato mixture over cooked chicken mixture and use back of spoon to spread potato to edge of skillet.
Bake in a 400F oven for 20 minutes, until top is golden. For a deeper golden brown, broil for an additional 5 minutes.
Note: Sweet potato mixture can be made ahead and kept in fridge. Bring to room temperature and give it a light whip with a fork before using. Sweet potatoes can be substituted with russet baking potatoes. Meat combination can be cooked ahead and frozen, thawed and reheated through before topping with sweet potato mixture.
