Coronation Chicken Pies

Guests will love these individual pies with a mellow curried filling. Be as creative as you like with the decoration – we’ve gone with pastry crowns – or keep them plain, if pushed for time.

Hands-on time 30min, plus cooling and chilling. Cooking time about 35min. Makes 8 2 x 320g shortcrust pastry sheets, see GH TIPS

1 medium egg, beaten

Flaked almonds, to decorate, optional Nigella seeds, to decorate, optional

FOR THE FILLING

25g butter, plus extra to grease 1 small onion, finely chopped 2tbsp medium curry powder 2tsp tomato purée

3tbsp chunky mango chutney, we used Geeta’s

2tsp Worcestershire sauce

150g cooked skinless chicken breast, finely chopped

125g full-fat crème fraîche

YOU WILL ALSO NEED

7.5cm and 10cm round cutters

1 Make the filling. Melt the butter in a medium pan over low heat and fry the onion for 8-10min, until softened. Stir in the curry powder and tomato purée; cook for 1min. Remove from heat and stir in remaining filling ingredients and some seasoning. Set aside to cool.

2 Unroll the pastry sheets and stamp out 8 x 10cm circles and 8 x 7.5cm circles, re-rolling trimmings as needed. Lightly grease 8 holes of a (3.5cm) deep muffin tin, and press the larger circles into the holes, working the pastry so that it comes just above the edges of the holes.

3 Spoon in and level the cooled filling, packing it down tightly to get rid of any air pockets. Brush the visible pastry edges lightly with beaten egg, then lay on the lids, pressing the edges firmly to seal. Use a teaspoon handle or cutlery knife to lift the pastry edges so they are vertical again, this will make the pies easier to remove from the tin later.

4 If you like, re-roll any trimmings and use to decorate pies. Lightly brush lids with egg and decorate with almonds and/or nigella seeds, if using. Use a skewer to pierce a hole in the centre of each lid to allow steam to escape. Chill for 20min, to firm up. Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7.

5 Cook pies for 20-25min, or until pastry is crisp and deep golden brown all over. Leave to cool in tin for 5min, before carefully transferring (use a cutlery knife to loosen edges first, if needed) to a wire rack. Serve pies warm or at room temperature.

PER PIE 375cals, 11g protein, 26g fat (12g saturates), 23g carbs (4g total sugars), 3g fibre

GET AHEAD Make up to 2 days ahead; cool, pack into an airtight container and chill. To serve, allow to come to room temperature.