Chicken and mushroom pie is one of my favourite foods. It’s perfect with both mash/roast spuds and veg or chips n beans/peas etc. It’s also really easy to make because you can simply add whatever you want to it. (A great excuse to use up those leftover mushrooms etc that are starting to go a bit dry as in this case)..
I bought a 20 kilo pack of chicken breasts on sale a while ago from my butcher, £20 instead of £28, (I love a bargain). I split them up and dropped them in the freezer, so after rummaging around looking for inspiration, I remembered I had a few mushrooms that needed using so decided to use a pack of chicken and do chicken and mushroom pie.
Here’s how I made this particular chicken and mushroom pie.
Ingredients.
- 2-3 chicken breasts or how many you need.
- Splash of oil
- Mushrooms to taste. If you don’t like mushrooms, don’t add them and call it chicken and Sweetcorn pie instead…
- Sweetcorn to taste, I used frozen sweetcorn here, but tinned etc is fine, just make sure it’s drained thoroughly.
- Large onion or as much as you need
- Chicken gravy granules or chicken stock cubes
- Bell peppers if you have any in, (I didn’t).
- Seasoning to taste. Salt/pepper mixed herbs etc or whatever is suitable and handy.
- Large frying pan, I use my wok as it’s nice and big
- Eggwash.
- Shortcrust or puff pastry, whatever you fancy. I used ready rolled shortcrust for this pie.
- I also had some leftover cooked chicken from a meal the previous day, so that went in as well.
Method
Turn your oven on to 160/170 if fan assisted. if not fan assisted then 180. Gas 4-5.
Add the oil to your pan on stove top and let it get hot.
Dice/cut your chicken, mushrooms and onions and throw them into your pan on a low/medium heat. It needs to be low/medium so you don’t ‘brown’ your onions too much.
Simmer until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the onions are nice and translucent.
Add your seasoning and any other veg you’ve decided to use. Then cover with water and bring to the boil, once at boiling point, reduce the heat so its simmering.
Now you need to add your chicken gravy granules. If you don’t use gravy granules, then use a couple of chicken stock cubes.
Add your sweetcorn and leave to simmer until your chicken mixture is fully cooked and the chicken is nice and tender.
Transfer your chicken mixture to a pie dish. Use a slatted spoon so you don’t transfer too much gravy. If you think you do have too much gravy in there, just spoon some of it back into the pan.
Once you’ve scooped all the chicken and veg out of the pan, move the with the remaining liquid to one side. You’ll use that for gravy when you serve up.
Now you need to add your pastry to the top of your pie. This is shortcrust pastry. I bought it ready rolled, but here’s a link to how to make your own
Size your pastry up to fit the top of the pie dish. Lay it over carefully and seal the edges. (Tip), if you have enough left over pastry, put it to one side to either make another pie or jam tarts etc. If you don’t have enough to do that, then don’t waste it. Decorate your pie with your leftover pastry. That’s what I’ve done here.
Cut 3 slots into the top of your pie. This helps steam escape whilst its in the oven and helps stop the pastry going soggy.
Finally use your eggwash to glaze the top of your pie, this will help give it a lovely golden brown colour. Its easy to make eggwash. just add a splash of milk to a beaten egg. You could also just use beaten egg or milk to glaze your pie.
Now put your pie into your preheated oven and cook for aprox 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. I’d start checking it after 20 mins or so. Turn the oven down if you think it’s cooking too quickly, you don’t want it to burn.
And that’s it. I served this pie with mash, roast potatoes , veg and gravy. I used the gravy from the mixture I’d put aside earlier and thickened it up.
The cleared plates from everyone told me it was delicious and I served out 5 really good portions with just 3 large chicken breasts. Best of all, its a recipe even a newbie cook could make..
