Easy Peasy Chicken Pies

Living in the Middle East, I obviously eat a lot of Middle Eastern food which is delish! However, sometimes I crave comfort food that feels very Australian. Growing up we would almost always have a pie at some stage over the weekend. I love a good meat pie or a potato pie but every now and then I'd go all out and have a chicken pie! My local bakery growing up was called Hill Top Bakery and to this day I have never found a place that does doughnuts, slices, pies or meringues as good as Hill Top! I think the bakery has since closed down but I will always have fond memories of that place. I wish I could take Sadie there for a lamington after school.... I digress!

I found this recipe on line and it really appealed to me because it seemed so comforting and cosy but best of all it seemed like a healthy pie! These individual chicken pies are full of chicken (obviously!) and lots of vegies and best of all they don't have a fattening creamy sauce. I was worried that the pies would taste dry without the creamy goodness, but they were absolutely scrumptious and not once did I feel guilty! The pies only require a little disc of golden puff pastry on top and I think serving the pies alongside some green leaves cancels out the pastry... doesn't it?!?!

The recipe below serves 4 however, I halved the ingredients so as not to temp myself with seconds! The recipe called for chicken thighs which I'm not a huge fan of so I used chicken breast.

If you do not have individual pie dishes you can easily make one large pie in an oven safe dish and the cooking time remains the same.

I think this dish would be perfect for a Sunday lunch with friends. Or in my case a Friday lunch with friends as here in the Middle East our weekends are Fridays/Saturday with Fridays feeling more like a Sunday... confused yet?!

Enjoy
x

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts cut into 2cm pieces
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
300g mushrooms, chopped
4 green onions (shallots), thinly sliced
1/2 cup frozen peas (I actually used a mix of frozen vegies to give the dish more colour and taste)
1/4 cup grated tasty cheese
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed cut into four 15cm circles
1 egg, lightly beaten
salad to serve (optional)

Method

Toss chicken pieces in flour, shaking off excess. Heat oil in a large frying pan on medium. Cook chicken in batches, until golden. Remove from pan. Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until mushrooms soften and liquid evaporates.

Preheat oven to 220C. Combine chicken, mushrooms, green onion, peas and cheese in a bowl. Season to taste (don't be shy with the salt, this dish needs a fair amount!). Divide chicken mixture between four 11cm pie dishes or individual ramekins.

Brush edge of pie dishes with water. Cover with pastry and press around edge of each ramekin to seal. Brush tops with egg. Bake pies for 20 minutes, or until pastry is golden.