Wood-fired!

Wholesome chicken pie

January 12th, 2009

No fancy food photography here! Just a recommendation for a tasty and satisfying pie.

This is a very old favourite from the days of struggling to put food on the table when my partner and I were both studying and the kids had big appetites. We’ve revisited this many, many times over the years and have recently rediscovered its wholesome silkiness.

The chicken and veggies are in a velvety velouté sauce. Something magic happens between the flavours of the chook, the sauce and the veggies - especially the carrot and mushrooms.

You can vary the veggies a bit - I have used parsnip and other root veggies. It is essential though to have the beans, carrots and mushrooms.

Homestead Chicken Pie

Serves 6.

250 g (1 quantity) rough puff or shortcrust pastry

Filling:
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup diced potato
1/2 cup diced turnip
1/2 cup chopped green beans
125 g (4 oz) mushrooms, sliced
60 g (2 tablespoons) butter
3 cups cooked chicken cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 teaspoon thyme
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Velouté sauce:
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
90 g (3 tablespoons) butter
3 tablespoons plain flour
750 ml (3 cups) chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon salt
white pepper

beaten egg for glazing

Make pastry according to recipe and chill well.

Filling: In a small pan of boiling, salted water, boil carrot, potato, turnip and green beans for 5-10 minutes, or until just tender. Drain in a colander and refresh them under running cold water. In a heavy-based frying pan, gently fry mushrooms in butter over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Place chicken in a mixing bowl and add all prepared vegetables.

Velouté sauce: Gently fry onion in the butter in a saucepan until soft but not brown. Stir in flour and cook roux over a low heat, stirring continuously, for 3 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and pour in chicken stock. Return to heat and bring to the boil, stirring continuously. Increase heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce over chicken and vegetables and mix gently.

To finish pie: Place filling in a 1 litre (4 cup) oval pie dish or casserole and leave to cool. Roll pastry out on a lightly floured board to an oval shape and cover pie. Brush pastry (not flaked edges) with beaten egg. Place pie on a baking tray and bake towards the top of a hot oven at 220°C (425°F) for 20-30 minutes or until pastry is golden. Serve hot.

I’ve used a variety of pastry tops. My favourite is shortcrust but I’ve used a commercial puff pastry when feeling lazy. These pics show individual pies but I usually make one large one.

The original recipe is from a 1979 paperback called The Perfect Piebook by Anne Marshall. One of the many pie books in my library.

Entry Filed under: Food