Chicken Puff Pastry Pie is just what you need on a cold winters evening to feed a crowd

Ingredients:

• 6 tbsp. cooking oil
• 3 carrots, finely chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 celery sticks, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to season
• ½ cup white wine
• 1/3 cup cake flour
• 4½ cups chicken stock, in the liquid form
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1½ tbsp dry thyme
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 8 pieces of chicken breasts, shredded
• 1 roll of store-bought puff pastry
• 1 egg

Method:

Before you shred the chicken breasts you will need to boil them.
To boil the chicken breasts:
8 chicken breasts, leave the skins on.
2 liters of chicken stock, the liquid form not the powdered stock.
Bring the stock to a boil in a large pot.
Add the chicken breasts and allow them to boil for an hour.
Remove the chicken from the stock and allow it to drain for a couple of minutes.
Remove the chicken skins.
Using 2 forks shred the chicken into pieces.

this For later use

To make the chicken pie:

Heat the oil in a pot.

Add the onions, celery, and carrots.

Allow cooking till the onions become transparent.

Season generously with salt and pepper.

Add the wine and allow it to cook for 5 minutes on low heat.

Add the flour, stir it into the mixture. It should dry up the mixture and become clumpy.

Add the chicken stock, using the back of your spoon, break up the clumps.

Cook for 20 minutes.

Add the thyme, the peas, and the turmeric powder.

Stir well and allow the mixture to cook till it starts to get thick which should take roughly 15 – 20 minutes.

Add the shredded chicken and mix well so that all the chicken is nicely coated.

Let the mixture cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Grease a baking dish or a baking pan.

Pour the filling into the dish and evenly spread it out.

Roll out the store-bought puff pastry onto a floured surface.

Gently cover the chicken mixture with the pastry, tucking in the sides.

If the pastry gets a hole, gently pinch the pastry together with your fingers.

Using a fork, prick the top of the pastry a couple of times.

Beat the egg well and using a pastry brush, brush the top of the pastry with the egg.

Pop into a pre-heated oven.

Bake at 180 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes or until the puff pastry is nice and golden brown.

Do not forget to turn the dish every couple of minutes to allow the pastry to brown evenly.

Serve with a delicious simple garden salad on the side.

Prepared, tried, and tested by: Bobby Swanson