Chicken Pie for One

This is another very flexible recipe which can be made using leftover chicken from my roast chicken recipe or use ready bought chicken thighs or breasts. I think a nice piece of puff pastry works really well on this pie, again if you want to make a bigger batch, they freeze brilliantly in individual pie dishes. I use a Velouté sauce as the base for this which is similar to making a white sauce except you use stock instead of milk when adding to the roux.

Ingredients

4oz of cooked chicken or 1 large chicken breast (free range)

½ pint of good quality chicken stock

¼ cup of cream

1 oz butter

1oz flour

2 tbsp of fresh thyme leaves

A handful of wild garlic if in season

1tsp of Truffle Oil (if you have it!)

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

2 oz sliced mushrooms

Filo Pastry

Extra melted butter for the filo pastry

Method

In a frying pan, heat some oil, add the mushrooms and fry gently until beginning to brown, add your raw chicken sliced or cooked chicken and stir around until well coated and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. In another pan, heat your butter, when it is melted add the flour and blend to a roux, add the stock and with a whisk beat over the heat until smooth, add the mustard, thyme leaves and cream, check the seasoning and reduce until thickened.

Add the chicken and mushroom mixture into the sauce and mix well. Place this mixture in a well-oiled pie dish, top with the filo pastry which you have layered with brushed melted butter between each layer pinch around the edges and trim back the excess pastry before baking. Brush over a final layer of melted butter over the top of the pie. Cook in a hot oven for about 30 minutes until pie is cooked through and golden. Serve with a tomato salad or some crusty bread.