Thursday, June 21, 2007

Asian Tuna and Sweet Potato Shepard’s Pie

Why?
I know, I know, I keep making variations of the same thing! I’m going through a slight sweet potato obsession at the moment and have been making just anything and everything I can with it (I’ll stop soon I promise!).

Shepard’s pie is a pretty basic dish – usually it’s just a minced meat (beef or lamb) layer topped with a layer of potato and baked until crusty. This used to be one of my favourite dishes…until I stopped liking red meat (don’t know why, I just went off it! Too many Shepard’s Pies perhaps?).

Anyway, I tried combining an old favourite (Shepard’s pie) and a new favourite (sweet potato!) and ended up with a tuna and sweet potato Shepard’s pie!


What?
Bottom layer
3x 200g canned tuna in spring water (flaked)
2 1/2 tsp ready-made red curry paste
2 eggs
1/2 red capsicum diced and lightly fried
1 onion diced and lightly fried
1 tsp garlic minced


Top Layer
2 medium sweet potatoes
1/4 tsp salt
3 spring onions chopped
3 tbs coconut milk


How?
1. Bottom layer: Mix all ingredients and spread in an greased baking dish. I used a (roughly) 26cm x 16cm x 4cm baking dish.
2. Top layer: Cook sweet potatoes then mash in a bowl. Mix all ingredients and spread on top of the tuna layer.
3. Put the baking dish in the oven at roughly 220C for around 40 minutes (I think…I forgot to time it!).


I didn’t add any salt to the tuna as canned tuna tends to be already salty and I used store-bought red curry paste which also had salt in it. The bottom layer ended up slightly salty but this was ok as it balanced out with the sweet potato. I would probably use home-made red curry paste next time – less salt!

I was also too impatient (and hungry) and didn’t wait till the top got slightly burnt and crusty. The dish turned out great and the sweet potato-coconut milk combination is absolutely delectable!

Hmm…maybe my sweet potato obsession is due to the fact that I’m not eating enough chocolate! You know, not enough sugar in my body! ;-)

25 comments:

  1. Gorgeous! I think it's cool how you vary the ingredients --- tuna for mince meat; sweet potato for plain potato --- and come up with a fresh new dish!

    And I think this dish would taste great in summer. And it's summer all year long here in Malaysia! Whoopee! :D

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  2. i used to cooked tuna while laziness attacked me for cook, hehehhee..... for sure ur pie is yummy :)

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  3. wow, that's gorgeous! pretty creative of you to play with the ingredients. Love how you used the sweet potato.

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  4. Looks like a delicious, spicy, cheesey dish - YUM!

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  5. Look like a healthy dish to me! I like smashed sweet potato with coconut milk too.

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  6. I figure anything sweet potato is better than what I would've ate instead.

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  7. ooohhh la laaa! Wonderful! It looks so tempting to me. :)~

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  8. err i really cant figure how this would taste like..i had enough of tuna pasta bake when i was in college..so im dead scared when i hear tuna baked with something no matter how good it is..

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  9. Ingenious, and healthy. :)

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  10. Hi Kenny: The only problem with baking on a hot day is that the oven makes the inside of your house hot as well!

    Lia: Yep - this is my lazy meal as well! hehe!

    LyricalLemongrass: I need to find some new ways to cook sweet potato while still keeping it healthy! I loovee sweet potato! (you've probably seen me say this a few times now I'm sure!)

    EastMeetsWestKitchen: I actually didn't top it with cheese..though I was thinking about it! Then I thought about my jiggly love handles and decided against the cheese!

    Isha: Thx!

    LittleCornerofMine: yep - pretty healthy...though I suppose it depends how much coconut milk you put in ;-)

    Hi Kelly: I think I need to eat some chips and chocolate! I have all these really bad cravings right now ;-)

    Hi Kok: Thx for dropping by again!

    Hi Joe: Thx for dropping by. I looove tuna so I'd probably like tuna-pasta bakes as well...though I'm not big on the creaminess of tuna-pasta bakes. No cream in this dish! ;-) ...except for coconut milk of course!

    Tigerfish: I'm running out of ideas on how to cook sweet potato though :-(

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  11. With tuna it's so perfect!

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  12. I love how bright the sweet potatoes are. They make the dish shine. Tuna is an inspired substitute for beef. I'm not a beef eater, either. Nothing moral, just don't care for it.

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  13. wokandspoon, wah, tuna again? You must be a big tuna fan! hehehe Do you do fresh tuna?

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  14. $ha: Thanks for dropping by!

    Lynn: Hi, thanks also for stopping by. I'm not too big on beef either and I try to eat more tuna to make up for the protein!

    Bigboysoven: Yep - I love canned and fresh tuna - only problem is that it's soooo hard to get fresh fish in Frankfurt! There are absolutely NO fish shops where I live, and the market has no fish stand (!!). There's a "mobile" fish van (kinda like a fast food van that you see at fairs) that comes by every 2nd Friday but I keep missing it! It's a nightmare!

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  15. I was just gonna say, what's up with all the tuna? I like fish and all, but that's a lot of tuna!

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  16. WanderingC: hehe - well, I don't like beef or pork, and I'm not that big on chicken or lamb either. I don't call myself vegetarian though - just a very very fussy eater! And - I can't find fresh fish in Frankfurt! Sooo, it's either beans, tofu or tuna for protein :-(

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  17. Wow, I have to try this with sweet potato, usually I made this with potato, looks so delicious.

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  18. Hi Everything4Sweets: Sweet potato definitely spices things up!

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  19. Hi, I think sweet potato won't quite make up for chocolate! have you tried chicken, sweet potato and butternut squash curry with kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass? I guess if you don't like chicken, it's quite nice without chicken too :)

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  20. see, i think this sounds delicious! so good for you too w/ sweet potatos and tuna. i'll take extra please! thanks!

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  21. Hi Msiagirl: The curry sounds nice! I might have to try this one despite the chicken ;-)

    Aria: Thx for stopping by. Yep - I was on a health kick though i've been eating too many cookies lately!

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  22. Incredible. Who would have thought of coming up with this dish. I might give it a go....one day (when pumpkin is in abundance).

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  23. Hi DrveThru (Judy?): Thx for stopping by. I used sweet potato but pumpkin is a great idea!

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Thanks for dropping by!

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