Comfort Food - My Chicken & Vegetable Pie Recipe

 If there's anything I love to eat on a cold autumn or winter's day, it's got to be something warm and filling like a chicken pie. It's always been one of my favourite meals but one I haven't made myself in years. After looking for a few recipes and being inspired by many of them, I came up with my own that I think anyone can make in just over an hour.

When looking for a recipe for a chicken pie, I found lots that had mushrooms in them which I cannot stand and they also used a lot of ingredients I don't often have at home and wouldn't use very much again after if I bought them. I don't really use bay leaves in my cooking nor do I use nutmeg or mustard powder and wanted something that was much simpler and decided to take a blend of about four recipes and create my own.

Since I created the recipe, I've cooked it three times and I absolutely love it. My boyfriend loves it too and we're always so full after we've eaten it. It's such perfect comfort food, especially on a cold and rainy day. It feeds about 4-6 depending on your portion sizes and is easily warmed up the next day for lunch.

Without further ado, here's my autumnal comfort good chicken pie recipe!

Ingredients:

• Ready-roll puff pastry
• 400-600g chicken thighs (boneless)
• 1/2 onion
• 40g butter
• 400ml semi-skimmed milk (warmed)
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 1 tsp mustard
• Frozen mixed vegetables of your choice
• 1 egg  or milk for glazing
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp thyme

Method:

Step One:

Heat your oven to 200 degrees/180 degrees fan /gas 6 and chop your chicken into small chunks.

Cook your chicken in the pan over medium heat until cooked through.

Step Two:

Steam or boil your chosen vegetables so that they are cooked through and set aside ready for later.

Step Three:

Chop your onion as finely as possible and in another pan, melt the butter over medium heat.

Add the onions and cook them in the butter for 5 minutes.

Stir occasionally to avoid burning.

Step Four:

When the onions are almost done, add flour to the pan and stir to make a thick paste (a roux). It can get really thick but don't worry as you'll be adding to this later.

Crumble a stock cube into the pan and stir well.

Stir the roux for 2 minutes to cook out the floor and avoid a starchy taste to the sauce.

Step Five:

Warm the milk and then add it to the roux stirring continuously.

Once the milk has been added, season with salt, pepper, mustard, thyme and rosemary.

Continue to stir to avoid a lumpy bumpy sauce until you have bought it to a boil.

Step Six:

When the sauce has thickened, turn down the heat to very low heat. If needed, add milk or water to get your desired consistency.

Add the cooked chicken and the vegetables to the sauce and stir until all combined.

When combined, pour it all into an oven-safe glass dish or a pie dish.

Step Seven:

Roll out the puff pastry and cut to size. Make sure it is slightly larger than the pie dish.

Place the pastry over the dish and cut off any excess. Press the edge of the pastry into the sides of the pie dish or press a pattern around the edge with a fork.

Use any leftover puff pastry to decorate the top of the pie or make cheese puffs!

Step Eight:

Brush the top of the pie with a beaten egg or milk.

Make a small hole to help the steam escape and place the pie in the middle tray of the oven for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Step Nine:

Let it cool until it's at the perfect eating temperature and enjoy!

The whole recipe does take about an hour and a half but it is totally worth its time. I know that a lot of the time, we like meals that don't take as much time but something like this will take a little more time and effort. 

When the pie is done, it is creamy, soft with a perfect crunch of the puff pastry on top. It's perfectly paired with mash or new potatoes as a side or it can be eaten alone.

If you're not a fan of puff pastry, you can always replace the top with a shortcrust pastry or if you're not a fan of some ingredients in the filling, you can make a variety of substitutes. You can substitute the chicken for beef or pork, or remove it altogether to make it vegetarian. You can also choose which vegetables you fill it with or make the addition of mushrooms if that's what you like. It's a pretty versatile recipe which is why I'm such a big fan of it.

I'm actually going to add bacon and broccoli to my next one to change it up a little bit but the majority of the recipe will stay the same.

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Please let me know if you try this recipe! I'd love to see your attempts and you can tag me @athomewithcatuk on Instagram.