Creamy chicken pie
Mushroom pie SERVES 6 PREP AND COOK
TIME 1 HOUR 40 MINUTES (+ REFRIGERATION TIME) 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 medium (300g) onions, chopped finely 200g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced 200g button mushrooms, sliced 4½ cups (200g) finely chopped kale leaves 200g full-fat ricotta 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind ¼ cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley ¼ cup (20g) finely grated parmesan 445g sour cream shortcrust pastry 1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion; cook, stirring, over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until soft and browned lightly. Add the mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, for a further 10 minutes or until the mushrooms are completely cooked down and no moisture remains. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
2 In the same pan, add kale; cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until kale is just tender. Add to bowl with mushroom mixture. Stir in remaining ingredients except pastry and the egg; season to taste with sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper.
3 Unroll thawed pastry; cut two 13cm x 40cm rectangles from pastry for top and base. Refrigerate remaining pastry on a tray to use for decorations. Place one pastry rectangle onto a lightly floured sheet of baking paper; top with a second sheet of paper and roll out to form a rectangle 15cm x 45cm. This will be the top of pie. Slide on paper onto a tray; refrigerate.
4 Line a large tray with baking paper. Put the remaining rectangle of pastry onto the lined tray. Spoon mushroom mixture down the centre of pastry, leaving a 3cm border. Lightly brush edges of pastry with beaten egg. Remove top piece of pastry from the refrigerator and lay it over the mushroom mixture (below). Press and lift edge slightly; roll towards filling to make an attractive edge (or crimp with fingers and thumb, or press lightly with a fork). Brush with beaten egg. Chill until ready to bake.
5 Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Place a large oven tray into the oven while preheating.
6 Remove remaining pastry from fridge; using tip of sharp knife, cut out decorative shapes. Top pastry with shapes; brush with beaten egg. Slide the pie on baking paper onto hot tray; bake on lower shelf for about 30 minutes or until browned. Not suitable to freeze or microwave. Creamy chicken pie SERVES PREP AND COOK TIME 6 2 HOURS 30 MINUTES (+ COOLING TIME) 1.6kg whole chicken 6 parsley stalks
1 Place chicken, parsley stalks and lemon juice in a large saucepan; add enough water to cover chicken. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 1 hour; remove from heat. When cool enough, transfer chicken to a plate. Reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid.
2 Meanwhile, line base and sides of a lightly greased oval (1.25 litre/5 cup) ovenproof dish with sour cream pastry; trim. Prick base with a fork. Cover with baking paper; refrigerate until ready to bake. 3 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). 4 Put the chilled pastry case in the oven; bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven; brush with beaten egg. Return to oven for a further 5 minutes.
5 Remove the flesh from the chicken and coarsely chop. Discard skin and bones.
6 Meanwhile, heat butter in a large frying pan. Add leek, celery and corn; cook, stirring, until vegetables are soft and any liquid from corn has evaporated. Stir in flour. Add reserved stock and cream; stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens. Reduce heat and stir in chicken, pepper, herbs and lemon rind. Remove from heat; season with sea salt, to taste.
7 Spoon chicken filling into pie case. Brush the edges of the pastry with egg. Top with the puff pastry. Decorate with any off-cuts and brush with egg.
8 Reduce oven temperature to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Bake for 45 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.