CHICKEN, SILVERBEET AND MUSHROOM PIES
Home-made fare always tastes
better than store-bought.
PREP TIME: 45 MINS
COOK TIME: 1 HOUR
SERVES 8 (AS PART OF A MAIN)
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped 4 celery sticks, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
350g button mushrooms,
thinly sliced
1 bunch silverbeet, inner stem removed, chopped
3 Tbsp light margarine 3 Tbsp plain
flour
375ml (11/2 cups) skim milk 375ml (11/2 cups) reserved chicken stock (from poaching liquid) 80g (2/3 cup) reducedfat grated cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup roughly chopped
flat-leaf parsley
2 sheets frozen 25% reduced-fat
puff pastry
60g egg, lightly whisked
Sesame seeds, optional
Poached chicken
Skin of 1 brown onion
2 stalks celery (including
leaves), chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
Handful parsley stalks
6 black peppercorns
1.5kg free-range chicken, skin and wings removed and discarded with any excess fat
1 To make poached chicken, put onion skin, carrot, celery and leaves, parsley stalks, peppercorns and chicken into a large, deep pan. Pour over enough water to completely cover chicken. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover top of liquid with a round of baking paper. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, for 20 minutes or until chicken is just cooked. Transfer to a plate to cool. Set stock aside to cool. Once cool, strain stock, discarding all vegetables. Set stock aside. Remove chicken meat from bones. Shred chicken and discard carcass. 2 Meanwhile, to make filling, heat oil in a large non-stick frying
pan over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrot and mushroom. Cook, stirring often, for 6-7 minutes or until vegetables have softened. Add silverbeet and increase heat to high. Cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes or until silverbeet wilts. Remove pan from heat.
3 Melt margarine in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute over the heat. Remove pan from heat and whisk in milk and reserved stock. Return pan to heat and cook, stirring, until sauce thickens and comes to a simmer. Simmer for 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in cheese. Season with pepper.
4 Add cheese sauce, shredded chicken and parsley to the vegetables in the pan. Stir until well combined. Divide chicken filling evenly between 8 x 250ml (1 cup) round ovenproof dishes
5 Preheat oven to 200°C (fanforced). Line two baking trays with baking paper. Place ovenproof dishes on the lined trays. Use a 10.5cm round cutter to cut 8 circles out of puff pastry. Trim pastry to fit dishes, if necessary. Place pastry on top of dishes and use a fork to seal. Make a few small slits in top of pastry. Brush tops evenly with a little egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired. Bake for 20-25 minutes
or until pastry pie top is light golden brown.