Chicken Pie with Shortcrust Pastry

This lovely chicken pie with shortcrust pastry is an amazing dish for gatherings with family or friends. It’s filled with all the goodness – a variety of veggies, tomato sauce and soft beans. What’s not to like?

I love humble and homey dishes, and pies are definitely one of those. They are the perfect choice when you need to clean your fridge and use up all those leftovers, or when you just don’t know what to make, so basically put everything in one dish, cover it up with some buttery pastry and leave it in the oven until it’s golden and ready… Whatever the reason though, everyone loves a good pie!

This pie is exactly like that. Given the time of year, it could also be the most amazing dinner recipe for your Halloween party. You can use any veggies you have in your fridge and simmer them with the rich and bold tomato sauce.

I made this pie for a Halloween celebration, but I’m telling you now that I’ll keep making it all year long (just without the spooky pastry face!). As always, my fussy eater didn’t have a clue of what he was eating and damn… he really loved it.

Ingredients for Chicken Pie

I love this chicken pie because it’s really versatile. Every time you make it, you can swap the ingredients and create something new.

Here’s the list of everything you’ll need for my spooky Halloween pie, and a few swaps you can make:

• For the chicken pie pastry, you’ll need plain flour, cold butter, egg and salt. You can also add some garlic powder or smoked paprika to give more flavour.
• For the meaty option I used chicken breast, but you can also use minced turkey.
• To add some extra flavour and spice, I used TexMex spice mix. I used the Terre Exotique spice mix which has the perfect amount of heat. If you don’t have a mix at home, you can easily make it yourself. Just combine paprika, cayenne, chilli pepper, ground coriander, garlic, cumin, oregano and a little bit of clove.
• Also, pies are perfect for filling with loads of different veggies. This time I used carrots, leeks, chilli pepper, tin tomatoes and kidney beans.
• To give the pie amazing flavour, finish it with fresh parsley, a little bit of milk for the sauce and a good glug of extra virgin olive oil.

How to Make the Best Pastry for Your Chicken Pie

Making the pastry for this chicken pie is actually very easy. It might be tempting to go to the shops and grab a premade pastry pack, but if you have 15 minutes spare, follow these tips and I promise you, you’ll make the best pastry ever.

• Use cold ingredients. Unlike cakes, pastry needs cold butter and eggs. Use them the moment you take them from the fridge rather than letting them sit on the kitchen worktop.
• Cut the butter into small cubes before adding them to the plain flour. This way you’ll speed up the process and the butter won’t start melting.
• Rub the butter with the plain flour between your fingertips until you get a texture like breadcrumbs.
• Add the egg with salt and mix everything just until the ingredients come together (this recipe doesn’t need kneading). So, the moment all the ingredients stick – stop touching the dough.
• Make a thin disk from the dough and wrap it in cling film. Leave the pastry in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to cool down completely (you can start making your meat filling during this time).
• After the pastry has cooled down take it from the fridge and roll it out with the rolling pin.
• That’s it. You did it!

If you are looking for other Halloween recipes, try out these muffins:
Black Cocoa Cupcakes with Raspberry Jam

Recipe

Ingredients

Pastry:
250g plain flour
150g cold butter
1 egg
3g salt

Meat filling:
300g chicken breast
1 tablespoon TexMex spice blend (I used this one)
1 carrot
½ leek
1 chilli pepper
2 garlic cloves
1 tin tomatoes
1 tin red kidney beans
50ml milk
Fresh parsley
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Method

Prepare the pastry:

1. Rub the flour and the butter between your fingertips until the mixture resembles the texture of breadcrumbs.
2. Add the egg and a pinch of salt. Mix everything until the ingredients come together (don’t overmix it).
3. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes to cool.

Prepare the filling:

1. Cut the chicken breast into small pieces and marinate them with TexMex spice blend, olive oil, salt and pepper.
2. Finely chop carrot, chilli pepper and leek. Crush the garlic cloves.
3. Preheat the saucepan, add the marinated chicken pieces and fry them for 3-5 minutes.
4. Add the chopped vegetables.
5. After the veggies soften, add the tinned tomatoes, kidney beans, milk and a glass of water. Cook everything for 30-40 minutes until the filling gets thick.
6. Finish the meat filling with some fresh parsley.

Arrange the pie:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Add the meat filling to an oven dish.
3. Take the pastry out of the fridge. Lightly dust the work surface with some plain flour. Roll out the pastry to a circle of 5mm thickness.
4. Cut out a spooky face from the middle of the pastry sheet.
5. Add it on top of the meat filling. Brush the pastry with a lightly beaten egg.
6. Bake the pie in the oven for 40 minutes.