Main Courses Recipes - Chicken Mushroom Pie Recipe

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• 225g/8oz plain flour

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 100g/4oz cold butter (diced)

• 75g/3oz lard (diced)

• 100ml/3 1/4fl oz

• 125ml/4fl oz iced water

For the filling:

• 15g/1/2oz dried porcini mushrooms

• 50g/2oz butter

• 15g/1/2oz plain flour

• 250ml/9fl oz chicken stock

• 50ml/2fl oz single cream

• Salt and pepper

• 1 onion (chopped)

• 2 carrots (sliced)

• 2 celery sticks (chopped)

• 50g/2oz button mushrooms (wiped with damp kitchen paper and quartered)

• 450g/1lb cooked chicken meat (cubed)

• 50g/2oz fresh peas

• 1 egg (beaten, to glaze)

Serves 6

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Method:

1. To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a bowl. With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the butter and lard until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Sprinkle with the lesser quantity of iced water and mix until the dough holds together. If the dough is too crumbly, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

2. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten into a round. Place in a sealed polythene bag and chill for at least 30 minutes.

3. Place the porcini mushrooms in a small bowl. Add hot water to cover and leave to soak for about 30 minutes, until soft. Lift out of the water with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

4. Preheat the oven to  190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.

5. Melt half of the butter in a heavy-based saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook until bubbling, whisking constantly. Add the hot stock and cook over a medium heat, whisking, until the mixture boils. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, then whisk in the cream. Season and set aside.

6. Heat the remaining butter in a large frying pan. Add the onion and carrots and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add the celery and mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked chicken, peas and drained porcini mushrooms.

7. Add the chicken mixture to the cream sauce and stir to mix. Turn into a 2.5 liter/4pt rectangular baking dish.

8. Roll out the dough to about 4mm/1/8in thickness. Cut into a rectangle about 2cm/3/4in bigger than the dish. Layover the filling and seal the edge by pressing down with your fingertips. Cut several slits in the pastry to allow steam to escape and brush the top of the pastry with the beaten egg. Use any remaining pastry for decoration.

9. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the pastry is browned. Serve hot from the dish.