We are big fans of home made pies and there are many recipes on this website like the chicken, ham and leek pie recipe.  I was watching one of Jamie Olivers 30 minute meals programs and the recipe really looked amazing so gave it a try. Well, it was very delicious and very simple to make. The secret to making it a quick preperation is chopping the chicken and veggies into smaller/thinner pieces so that they cook quicker. This made a very deliucious pie filling and could easily be used to make whatever fiolling you wanted.

For example, add leeks instead of spring onions, add bacon instead of mushrooms or add bacon as well as mushrooms (I am a huge bacon fan). The cream is a really important part of this recipe and in my opinion makes all the difference, but you could easily leave out the cream if you are opposed to creamy sauces. FTR it is not a creamy rich sauce, but the cream just adds a bit of fullness to the sauce.

See the gallery of images below showing the method from start to finish.

What you need

4 x large or 6 x small chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
1 x tablespoon olive oil
2 x bunches of spring onions chopped (use the green parts as well)
2 x medium carrots chopped into small peices
2 x sticks celery chopped into small pieces
1 x 250g punnet sliced mushrooms
300ml chicken stock
2 x heaped dessert spoons double thick cream (if you don’t have double thick cream, use pouring cream but add 1/2 tablespoon more flour below)
1 x heaped tablespoon flour
1 x roll puff pastry thawed
Salt and pepper to taste

The process

First things first. Boil a kettle for the stock and put your oven onto 220 Celcius. Get an oven dish about 2.5 litre dish.

In a large pan on a medium high heat, place a little olive oil, add the chicken and cook for about 3 minutes turning occasionally until whitened.

Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook for about another 5-6  minutes stirring from time to time or until fairly soft.

Add the mushrooms, give it a few good tosses to mix the ingredients together well and let the mushrooms soften a little.

Now add the chicken stock, stir and then add the cream and flour. Stir well to combine all of the ingredients and let it simmer until the sauce begins to thicken. You are not looking for a very thick sauce but should coat the vegetables easily.

Add salt and pepper to taste and allow to simmer for about another minute or two while you get the pie dish and unroll the pastry.

Pour the filling into the dish and cover with the pastry. I am no expert here but once it’s all puffed up and crisp, we are in a happy place.

Paint with an egg wash or milk and place into the oven for about 20 minutes or until the pastry has puffed up and brownd.

Remove from the oven and try to let it rest for 5-10 mins before diving in.

Serve with pease and you have an awesome meal.