This is such a quick and easy recipe and never fails to impress Brian. There is something really comforting and fulfilling about making a pie. It is reminiscent of granny baking and long lazy days when time was easy and slow. Fast forward to our crazy, busy lives with family, angry hungry looking expectantly at you wondering when dinner will be ready. The pastry is quick to make and seriously easy, I promise you when you master this pie crust you may find yourself using it for quiches too. It can be made ahead of time and frozen ready for the angry hungry emergencies you may find yourself in from time to time. I have suggested you can skip this part of the recipe, but I challenge you to try in at least once. If you can’t get it, then move on, maybe that’s just not your thing. The alternative is to buy shortcrust pastry and roll that out into your buttered dish and fill it with this roast chicken filling. Serve with a nice big salad or a side of fluffy mash potatoes.
My niece loves chicken pie but hates mushrooms, so I add more onion and fried leaks to the recipes to replace the mushrooms.
Chicken Pie Hack
Ingredients
Pie Crust with lid for 28cm dish – if you really want to hack it buy shortcrust pastry and skip this step
- 250 g cake flour
- 1 tsp mustard powder I used Hot English Mustard Powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbls maizena
- 90 g cold butter cubed use 125g Butter if you don't want to use lard
- 40 g lard
- 90 ml ice water use as much or as little as needed to bring the dough together
Roast Chicken Filling
- 300 – 400 g roast chicken cubed I bought a rotisserie chicken from Woolworths
- 2 + 1 Tbls olive oil
- 400 g big brown mushrooms roughly chopped
- 1/2+1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 60 ml white wine or water
- 1 Tbls Flour or maizena
- 4 baby courgettes grated This is to hide them from the kids, you can slice them if you want to see them
- 1 Tbls preserved lemon chopped use zest of 1 lemon and 1 tsp of the juice if you don't have preserved lemon
- 1/2 Tbls chicken stock powder I used the Woolworths one, Ina Paarman is also great
Instructions
- Chicken Pie Hack -Buy a 2-for-one roast chicken special at Woolworths – Freeze one and use the other for this recipe. You only need a little chicken here so you will have leftovers for toasted chicken and mayo sandwiches. Pie crust – makes about 450g of dough, if you like a thicker crust use a slightly smaller 26cm pie dish250g cake flour ( I use 00 four , you can also use bread flour, its a really versatile recipe- use what you have)5ml mustard powder optional 1/2 tsp salt 1 Tbls maizena90g cold butter cubed (125g butter if you don't want to use lard)40g lard ( gives it that pie flavour)60-100ml iced water Blitz flour, mustard, maizena, salt, butter and lard in a blender with blade attachment until they resemble bread crumbs Add iced water 15ml at a time until the dough comes together. Roll out 2 thirds for base and line a 28cm pie dish cover and refrigerate for 30 min Bake blind in 180°C preheated oven for 20min remove baking beads and fill pie with filling of your choice. Roll out remainder of dough and place on top of chicken filling or filling of your choice. Roast Chicken FillingFry an Onion in 1 Tbls olive oil Fry 400g mushrooms in 2 Tbls olive oil. I like my mushrooms to be brown. Make sure all the moisture evaporates in this process. You are looking for dry mushrooms not wet soggy ones. Add salt and pepper Add 60ml white wine Add 1 1/2 tsp Woolworths chicken stock powder with 1 Tbls maizena, stir Add 1/3 cup of water/ wine stir add more water for more gravy. Mustn't be too runny and liquidy. Add 300 – 400g cooked chicken meat Grate 4 small baby marrows into filling stir to incorporate and add the preserved lemon stirring to combine.Fill par cooked pie case with filling Cover with pastry top ,cut a hole in the middle insert pie bird so pie can breath brush with beaten egg and bake for 35min to 40 min at 180°C until pastry is golden brown.
