It’s colder here than it has been in the last few weeks and that has made me crave comfort food more and more.
When I think of fresh flavours I turn to Italian and Portuguese cuisine but when I think of comfort food I inevitably think of British recipes.
These include stews, casseroles and inevitably pies. My favourite in the latter being Chicken and Mushroom Pie.
Traditionally in Britain, this pie has no pastry base and is usually topped off with puff pastry.
It should look something like this:
As always, I was keen to combine British and Mediterranean flavours, so I added 3 non traditional ingredients: White Wine, Pancetta and a touch of Parsley.
These really added an interely new depth of flavours.
I also made a pastry base to help sustain the the juicy filling.
The Italian folk were really impressed with this. They even offered to take pictures, so the final product pics you see here are courtesy of the Italian Folk.
Grazie Mille!
CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM POT PIE
INGREDIENTS:
2 large chicken breasts, chopped into bitesize pieces
250gs of mushrooms
1 chopped onion
1 minced clove of garlic
250gs of pancetta or smoked bacon
1 cup of white wine
2 cups of chicken stock
1 tbsp of olive oil
150gs of butter
2 tbsps of flour
1 tbsp of chopped parsley
METHOD
Fry the pancetta in the olive oil
Add the chopped onion and garlic. Fry until translucent
.
Add the chopped chicken, make sure its well seasoned and brown to seal in the juices.
Add the white wine and let it simmer to allow the alcohol to steam off.
In the mean time, make your roux. Melt some butter and stir in the flour until smooth.
Add the chicken stock and continue to stir until its a nice slightly thick cream consistency
Once the wine has reduced, not boiled dry, add your mushrooms, check for seasoning and allow to cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.
In the meantime prepare your pastry base. Oh and pre heat the oven too lol. I bought ready made pastry as the one they have here is high quality. Line your pastry dish with the pastry
Add your chiken and mushrooms to your creamy roux as well as your parsley.
Pour the mixture carefully into your pastry base
Top with the pastry making sure the wedges are well sealed together. Make a few cuts on the top to allow the mixture to steam off during cooking.
I always glaze my pies with some egg wash as it tends to give it a nice shiny look once baked. Just like this:
Chicken and Mushroom Pie with a Mediterranean touch!
Creamy Chicken Pie
