CHICKEN & CORN PIE

A roast chicken on a Sunday is the only way I want to enter the week ahead. There is something so nourishing and comforting about a roast chicken as they fill a wintery evening with warmth and beautiful smells. The leftovers keep giving usually forever as they are always a leg that you can enjoy as a snack the next day or a chicken and corn pie (the next recipe).

I’ve written out my roast chicken recipe before so I wont go through it again however I will write you out a recipe for a pie filling using the leftovers. When we had this chicken for dinner we ate the wings and half the breast each with the legs used for lunch the next day. It meant that we had quite a bit left (800grams to be exact, I weighed it). This pie filling makes enough for two for dinner leaving one large piece that you can fight over for lunch during the week.

Ingredients

800 grams of roast chicken finely chopped

¼ cup plain flour

1 carrot finely chopped

½ an onion finely chopped

1 tsp of olive oil

1 corn cob – kernels cut off

A small handful of dill finely chopped

500ml of water and 1 chicken stock cube or 500mls of chicken stock

Pastry

2 ½ cups plain flour

1 tsp salt

½ cup ice water

1 tbsp vinegar

250 grams butter salted cold

1 egg

Fennel seeds

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

To make the pastry chop up the butter into cubes and blitz the butter, flour and salt in a blender or food processor until you get a fine crumb.

Pour into a mixing bowl and in another bowl mix the water and vinegar together

Make a well in the flour/ butter mixture and add in the water.

With your hands slowly mix together the water and the flour until it forms a dough and knead until smooth. If it is a bit sticky add a bit more flour.

Split the dough into two portions and chill in the fridge while you make the filling

Now for the pie.

If you are using a stock cube, boil the kettle and add the cube to a jug with 500ml of water.

Heat the olive oil in a frypan and add in the carrot and onion, cooking until the onion is translucent.

Add the flour and coat the carrots and onion lightly toast the flour constantly moving everything around.

Slowly add in the stock a ¼ of a cup at a time. Allowing the flour and stock and come together and thicken. Keep going with adding the stock until all the water is absorbed and the mixture is thick.

Add in the chicken, corn and the dill mixing it all together to combine then turn off the heat allow it to cool.

Flour your bench and roll out one portion of the dough and beat one egg to make an egg wash

Pour your pie mixture in to a pie dish (mine was 20cm across) and place your pastry on top cutting off the excess but leaving enough for the pastry to grip the sides of the dish.

Brush on the egg was and sprinkle with salt and the fennel seeds

Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden.