This was one of my favourite meals growing up. Creamy chicken and vegetable filling topped with a flaky pastry. It's a hearty, rich and very comforting dinner. It take 1.5 hours to cook but it's worth it to ensure your filling develops a deep flavour from the vegetables and herbs. Try it for your next family dinner.
Category
Dinner
Servings
6-8
Prep time
15 minutes
Cook time
1 hour 30 minutes
This was one of my favourite meals growing up. Creamy chicken and vegetable filling topped with a flaky pastry. It's a hearty, rich and very comforting dinner. It take 1.5 hours to cook but it's worth it to ensure your filling develops a deep flavour from the vegetables and herbs. Try it for your next family dinner.
Ingredients
- 800ml milk
- 500ml chicken stock
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 6 sprigs thyme
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1kg chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 50ml olive oil
- 50g butter
- 2 brown onions, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 3 celery sticks, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, finely grated
- ½ bunch dill, chopped
- 3 tsp dijon mustard
- 100g (⅔ cup) plain flour
- 50g grated parmesan cheese
-
sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 375g frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
Directions
Step 1: Cook the chicken
Combine the milk, chicken stock, stock cube, thyme, peppercorns and big pinch of salt (2g) in a large saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring to dissolve the stock cube.
- Add the chicken to the saucepan, then cover and cook on low heat for 20 mins.
- Remove the chicken and strain the liquid from the saucepan into a large bowl and reserve.
- When the chicken is cool enough to handle, break it up into bite size pieces.
Step 2: Cook the base
Wipe out the saucepan and heat the oil and butter in it over medium heat.
- Add the carrot and season with some salt. Saute for 4 minutes, until softened. Stir in the onion and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add the celery and garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes.
- Sprinkle over the flour and stir through the vegetables until well combined. Gradually pour in the reserved chicken liquid, stirring constantly as it comes to a simmer and thickens.
- Add the chicken, parmesan, mustard, peas and dill. Stir well to combine and season to taste. Pour mixture into a large casserole dish (3.4L /3.6qt).
Step 3: Bake and serve
Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F).
- Drape the pastry over the casserole dish and press in around the edges to seal.
- Make a few small slits in the top for steam holes, then brush the pastry top with beaten egg. Sprinkle over sesame seeds.
- Place a large tray in the bottom of the oven to catch any drips from the dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the pastry is golden and puffed.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Recipe notes
Cook support
This does make a large pie, but can easily be reduced by half to serve 4 and baked in a smaller dish or individual sized dishes. The cooking times will remain the same.
Sourcing
If you use a smaller or individual pie dishes, you can use smaller packaged frozen puff pastry sheets, rather than the large 375g sheet.
Storage
This is best eaten straight after cooking because of the pastry, but any leftovers can be refrigerated and reheated in the oven to allow the pastry to crisp up again.
Serving ideas
This can be simply served with a green salad or some steamed greens.
