Cheat's chicken pie

Let’s just put our cards on the table... I'M A PIE-A-HOLIC. Awkwardness out the way, there are two reasons I call this a ‘cheat' pie. One is because - SPOILER ALERT - there’s no shortcrust base. The second is because I don’t make the puff pastry top 😱. That aside, I assure you it scores high on the pie scale.

Sure, if it's the weekend I’d think about going the extra mile and making pastry, or at least a base! But it’s a bit too much faffing for the working week and shop-bought pastry is great. There's a fair bit of prep/chopping involved, but once everything’s ready it all goes in to one pot, so it’s pretty easy on the washing up. And it sure packs flavour.

Open that pie hole because it’s about to get hectic.

Serves: 3.14159*

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

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Ingredients

2 large chicken breasts

1 large leek (chopped)

1 onion (chopped)

1 stick of celery (chopped)

1 large carrot (chopped)

2 rashers of pancetta (chopped)

1 large clove of garlic (crushed and chopped)

1 glass of white wine (around 250ml)

400ml good chicken stock

1 bay leaf

5 sprigs of thyme

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp crème fraîche

1 rolled sheet of pre-made puff pastry

1 egg (beaten)

Method

First and foremost, cook the chicken breasts in a pan (suitable to use as a pie dish/pan in the oven) with a glug of olive oil over a medium-high heat. Lay the breasts down carefully and don’t touch or move them until they look ready to turn. It’ll depend on the size of the breast, but somewhere between 5-7 minutes on each side. Take them off the heat and check to see they’re cooked by poking a sharp knife in the thick end to see that the juices run clear. Or if you’re not sure, just cut through the thickest part of one breast to check the meat. When cooked, leave to cool down slightly before shredding up and setting aside.

Add another glug of olive oil to the same pan and add your pancetta. Cook for a minute or two and, once you start to see it caramelising and browning, add the onions, leeks, carrots and celery. Give it a good stir and cook until the leeks and onions have softened, around 7-10 minutes. Season generously.

Add the garlic to the pan, stirring for one minute. Add the dijon and shredded chicken and stir through. Add the herbs and the white wine and let it bubble away for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle the flour over everything as evenly as you can and give it a stir. Add three quarters of the stock before reducing to a low heat simmer for around 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened nicely. If it’s thickened too much, add a small dash of the leftover stock. Taste and season to your liking. Turn the heat off and stir through the crème fraîche.

Allow to cool slightly and, once it’s safe to handle, remove the herbs so that nobody ends up choking on twigs. While it’s cooling, unroll your sheet of puff pastry and trim any bits to fit your pan. If you need to patch any gaps or edges, just use some of the excess trimmings - it’ll all come together fine in the oven.

Brush your egg-wash over the pastry, grind some black pepper over it and form a small hole in the middle of the pastry.

Pop into the oven until the pastry looks a beautiful golden brown, around 30-40 minutes.

Serve with chips and gravy.

*serves 4

TIPS

  • I often use chicken thighs for these kind of dishes because they’re typically juicier and more flavoursome, but I really like the texture of the stringy, pulled chicken breast for this pie. If you’d rather use thighs, cook as you would the breasts or simply drizzle in olive oil and roast in the oven before pulling the meat apart.

  • For the shredding, you can either use two forks or your hands. Put the breasts on a board and just start pulling away. I prefer to use my hands because it’s easier to feel the natural grain and stringy fibres.

  • Try and chop all the chopped veg to the same size so that it cooks evenly.

  • Do all your prepping, chopping and measuring of ingredients before starting so that you’re ready for everything.