Although it looks impressive, this pie is quick and easy to make with shop-bought puff pastry. The recipe is taken from the "1000 recipes" cookbook, with a couple of changes: I have added mushrooms instead of the leek, and used uncooked chicken meat.
Ingredients:
2 packets puff pastry, rolled into 25 x 40 cm rectangles each
600 g chicken fillets
250 g mushrooms
3-4 sprigs thyme
1 tbsp flour
50 ml chicken stock
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper by taste
1 egg for brushing
Method:
Chop the fillets into small chunks, rinse and slice the mushrooms.
Heat oil in a frying pan, add chicken. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until browned all over.
Add mushrooms and cook for 5 more minutes, until they shrink in half.
Add thyme and season to taste. Mix well.
Sprinkle over the flour and stir in.
Gradually blend in the stock and bring to boil, stirring until thickened. Add lemon juice.
Leave to cool completely. Discard excess liquid, if any, and the thyme sprigs.
Preheat the oven to 200 C.
Lay one rectangle of the puff pastry on a large dampened baking tray. Spoon the chicken and mushroom mixture evenly over the pastry base, leaving a 2,5 cm border.
Dampen the edges of the pastry with water.
Fold the second rectangle of the pastry in half lengthways.
Make cuts along the folded edge.
Unfold and place it on top of the bottom layer and press the edges together to seal, using fork.
Brush the top with beaten egg.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.
Tip: to make the layers puff more in the oven, gently tap the knife into the pastry edge and separate into several layers.
It helps to allow air in between a few of the layers around the edge and make it look superb after being cooked.
Enjoy your slice of the pie! Bon Appetit!
