© Marlene Cornelis, Urban Cottage Life.com 2017

This riff on a classic shepherd’s pie celebrates the late summer harvest in Middlesex County, Ontario, and likely where you live too. Corn and squash are the two must-have ingredients for me; you can play around with the other vegetables according to what you find at your local farm markets. Using ground chicken adds big flavour and richness to this pie, and a touch of the unexpected. Oh, and if you’re wondering why I cut the green beans so small, that’s to mimic the peas that are usually in shepherd’s pie. Cute, huh?

Note: If you plan ahead, you can make extra mashed potatoes a day or two ahead and have them ready to go in the refrigerator.

And one more note: like any recipe, make sure you read this one through before starting!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

For the Harvest Shepherd’s Pie Base

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup vegetable stock (chicken stock would also work)
• 2 1/2 cups diced butternut squash
• 3 cups maplesweet (or other) corn kernels (sliced off 3 cobs; see here for the technique*)
• 1 cup diced green beans (cut into 1/4-inch pieces)
• 1 tsp dried celery leaf
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1 tsp dried basil

For the Potato Topping

• 1.5 lbs white potatoes (or other potato), peeled and cut into smallish chunks
• about 1/3 cup butter
• milk, as required
• 1.5 tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper

Start by prepping all the vegetables for the pie base, so the process of putting the dish together will go smoothly. Keep the peeled and cut potatoes covered with cold water until you’re ready to cook them.

*Note: I didn’t scrape the milk off the corn cobs for this shepherd’s pie as I was making soup at the same time and used it for that. If you’re only making this shepherd’s pie, then go ahead and scrape the cobs so none of that goodness goes to waste.)

Swirl the olive oil around a large, high-sided skillet over medium high heat and add the chicken. Mine was still mostly frozen, and that was just fine. Just turn the chicken, scraping off the cooked bits with a spatula as you go, and then stir and brown it. Break up any chunks so the mixture is fairly even in size. Cook until all the liquid has evaporated. If you wish, you can turn the browned chicken out into a sieve, press out any extra fat, and return it to the pan, but I didn’t do that.

Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic to the pan and stir until the onion looks translucent. Add the salt and pepper, too. At this point, there will be a golden brown crust on the bottom of the pan. That’s called the fond, and it’s treasure. Why? Because it’s all flavour. Add the stock and stir and scrape the bottom of the pan until the browned bits have come off and are incorporated into the chicken and aromatics mixture.

Now stir in the diced butternut squash, turn the heat to medium low and cover the pan. Simmer for about 15 minutes, checking it once or twice to make sure it’s not overheating and sticking to the pan. When the squash is tender but still retains its shape, and almost all of the stock has been absorbed, add the corn, green beans and herbs. Stir well and cook for about five more minutes. By this point the chicken will be fully cooked, so you can taste the mixture and adjust the salt and pepper if you think it necessary.

Cook the potatoes while the butternut squash is simmering. When the potatoes are cooked, drain them and add the butter, salt and pepper. Give them a rough mash, and then start adding milk, continuing to mash until you have a smooth and creamy texture.

Evenly distribute the pie base in a deep-dish 9-inch pie dish or a similarly sized casserole dish. Spread the mashed potatoes on top with a spatula, completely covering the pie filling.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are starting to turn golden brown in spots and the filling is bubbling and well-heated.

Serve hot, and enjoy the taste of the autumn harvest!

Note: If you don’t have dried celery leaf, you could add 1/4 cup of minced fresh celery leaf and /or celery.