Chicken pie

THIS PIE IS QUITE SAUCY – PERFECT WITH RICE

Serves 8

• 2 whole chickens, cut into pieces • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste • 90 ml olive oil • 2 onions, diced • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed • 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced • 250 g ham, diced • 250 ml white wine • 250 ml chicken stock • 15 ml white wine vinegar • 5 ml mixed dried herbs • 2 bay leaves • 40 ml maizena, mixed with 50 ml water • 1 sheet puff pastry (400 g) • 1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 180 °C. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Pour 60 ml of the olive oil in an ovenproof casserole and add chicken pieces. Cover with tinfoil and place in a warm oven. Roast for about an hour. Remove from oven and remove meat from the bones. Set the cooking juices aside. Heat the rest of the olive oil in a saucepan. Fry the onions, garlic and celery until soft. Add the ham, chicken, cooking juices, wine, stock and vinegar. Season with salt, black pepper, herbs and bay leaves. Heat the filling, but don’t stir too much. Thicken with the maizena. Pour the mixture in a pie dish and allow to cool before topping with pastry. Cut a long strip from the pastry and place it along the edge of the dish. If you have a pie bird (funnel), place it in the centre of the filling. Brush the pastry strip with beaten egg. Place the rest of the pastry on top. Decorate the pie with remaining pieces of pastry and brush with the rest of the egg. Bake for 3035 minutes until golden brown and crispy.