Easy as Pie: Savoury Chicken Pie
When I was a kid growing up in Scituate, Massachusetts in the 1960’s, my Mom would serve us Swanson Pot Pies as a Saturday-night treat. Pot Pies were individual frozen pies filled with chicken and vegetables or beef and vegetables between a bottom and top crust. Since Mom usually cooked from scratch, something frozen was like magic coming out of the oven and we absolutely adored our pop pies.
Nowadays, home-made savoury pies are an English tradition to which my ThermoHubby has introduced me. They are the perfect utilisation of leftovers as well as fresh ingredients. Bound together by a sauce and topped with pastry, savoury pies are quickly becoming a favourite in my kitchen.
What I love about savoury pies is the mix of the flavours of the filling, plus the fact that you can be as creative as you like. Raid the fridge and use up what’s left instead of throwing it away. Get the kids involved and see what flavour combinations they come up with. Make your own pastry and revel in the flaky, buttery goodness of something you’ve made yourself. And take a good sniff during the baking and see how many scents you can identify!
We recently transformed leftover roast chicken into a lovely savoury chicken pie – made easier by my trusty Thermomix!
Make a batch of Shortcrust Pastry in your Thermomix by chopping the butter into the flour and then turbo pulsing with a bit of water just to bring together. Wrap in cling film/plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
Our filling ingredients include roast chicken, mushrooms, ham and lemon zest for an extra taste dimension. Herbs were sage, tarragon and rosemary, freshly picked from our herb garden.
We cooked the pie filling in the Thermomix starting with milk, butter and flour to make a roux, then adding the chicken, ham, sautéed mushrooms and some frozen peas and cooking on Reverse Blade Direction/80° C/10 minutes/Speed Spoon. Pour into your pie dish when finished.
To assemble the pie, roll out your pastry and lay it on top of your dish. Crimp the edges and decorate.
Because the filling is already completely cooked, you only have to bake the pastry crust until golden. Serve and enjoy. Notice how flaky the Thermomix pastry is 🙂
Bon appétit !
