Friday Feast - Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Plate Pie

Oops, I accidentally published, then swiftly deleted, a snippet of this posting yesterday - so perhaps today's recipe isn't a surprise:

Friday Feast - Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Plate Pie

For the shortcrust pastry:

250g plain flour
Pinch of salt
60g butter
60g lard

For the filling:
2 tbsp light olive oil
4 chicken breasts, skinned and cubed
6 rashers smoked streaky bacon, roughly chopped
125g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
30g butter
30g plain flour
150ml milk
1 chicken stock cube
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
Salt and ground black pepper
Egg, for glaze

24cm (9½in) enamel pie plate (I usually just use a Pyrex pie plate)

To make the pastry: (Or cheat like me and use ready made!!)
Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl. Cut the butter and lard into cubes and add to the flour. Use a knife to start cutting the fats into the flour.

Rub the fats into the flour, using your fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, lifting the mixture.

Add 2 tablespoons very cold water and start mixing it in to the mixture with a round bladed knife. Gradually add enough water until the mixture binds together, using only the minimum amount of water, because too much water will make a tough pastry.

When the mixture starts to form the dough, roll it into a ball — again, handling it as little as possible. Wrap the pastry in a freezer bag, or cling film, and let it rest in the fridge for at least half an hour before rolling out.

To make the pie:
Set the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7 and place a baking tray in the oven to heat up.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the chicken and bacon, and cook for 3-4 minutes over a medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook for a further 4-5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the mushrooms have softened. Remove mixture from the pan.

Melt the butter in the pan and add the flour. Stir well and then gradually beat in the milk and 150ml (¼ pint) water to give a smooth sauce. Crumble in the stock cube and stir until it dissolves. Stir the chicken, bacon and mushrooms into the sauce and add the chopped parsley and season to taste. Allow the mixture to cool slightly.

Roll out half of the pastry to a round large enough to line the base of the pie plate. Spoon the chicken mixture on top. If the chicken mixture is still warm, then you’ll need to work fairly quickly, so that the fats in the pastry don’t melt.

Roll out the remaining pastry for the top. Brush water around the edge of the pastry on the pie plate and lay the top  over it. Seal the lid of the pie and decorate if wished with pastry trimmings.

Brush beaten egg over the top to glaze and make a hole in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape when it’s  cooking.

Place pie on the hot baking sheet. Bake it in the centre of the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until pastry is golden in colour. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

 

Things I do: I usually cheat and use Jusrol frozen pastry sheets, already conveniently in round shapes :) Chestnut mushrooms really do give this pie added flavour. The recipe suggests serving this with salad, I usually serve it with new potatoes and either a nice green vegetable or asparagus.

 

Enjoy!

 

Di

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