Family Favourite … chicken pie

Now it’s been a while since I’ve posted, and I haven’t lost enthusiasm for my new found hobby, but more of a crisis of confidence in that the blog is too me, me, me, which is not what I wanted. So I’m trying something different; a favourite family recipe – chicken pie, and not only that, the easiest chicken pie to make in the world. This is from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals, and although I don’t follow the full meal recipe, this pie is a winner with even the fussiest eaters. So here goes:

4 chicken breasts, sliced into strips

A bunch of spring onions

150g button mushrooms

1 heaped tablespoon of plain flour

2 teaspoons of English mustard

1 heaped tablespoon of crème fraîche

300ml chicken stock

1 sheet of pre-rolled puff pastry

1 beaten egg

Cook the chicken in a large pan for 3 minutes or so. I prefer to use rapeseed oil for cooking although Jamie’s recipe says olive oil and a knob of butter.

Trim and slice the spring onions and mushrooms (I never put mushrooms in as I can’t stand them, but often put carrots in instead) and add to the pan.

Once they’ve all softened, add a heaped tablespoon of flour and stir.

Add 2 teaspoons of mustard, 1 heaped tablespoon of crème fraîche and 300ml of chicken stock and stir well (I sometimes put a little more crème fraîche in to stretch the quantity for a family of five, which is does easily).

Add a good pinch of salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes.

Tip the chicken filling into an ovenproof baking dish and cover the filling with the sheet of puff pastry, tucking in the edges. The pre-rolled sheets are c. 30 x 25cm to give you an idea of the size of dish you need. Brush the top with the beaten egg and score the pastry.

Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Jamie’s recipe says 200˚C/400˚F/gas 6 but I cook at 180˚C in my fan oven.

And that’s it. It looks ‘home-made’ (on this one my pastry has shrunk from the edge as I should have overlapped it a bit more) but tastes yummy! I hope you enjoy.