Chicken Pie, I love making this and it has to be one of my favourite dishes to make for everyone. While I’m sat writing this I’m making it for all my housemates for when they get home from work (I’m great aren’t I). I always pack it full with carrots (and onions) to get more vegetables in, and they help you see in the dark right?

I’ll give you the recipe of course:

Ingredients:

1 Onion, chopped

2 or 3 Carrots, chopped

3 Chicken Breasts, chopped into chunks

A splash or two of olive oil

1 Stock Cube

1 tbsp Gravy Granules

Salt and Pepper

Puff Pastry

I added a bit of oregano today, and also I served it with loads of cabbage and then my housemates had chips as well!

Method:

1. First put a splash of oil in a pan and heat it up a little. Add the onion and soften it then add the carrots and cook for roughly 5 minutes or until they are all softened. Season with salt and pepper.
   
   
   
2. Next add the chicken and cook for roughly 8 to 10 minutes, check that its cooked thoroughly first before carrying on. Season with salt and pepper.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Make up the gravy and stock in one jug, fill it with boiling water and mix it all together. Then add it to the chicken and vegetables and let it simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.
   
   
   
4. Take it off the heat and spoon it in to a ceramic dish (mine is floral and pink obviously), so that there is a good layer along the bottom. It’s best not to fill it to the top as it can overflow and the flavours blend together better if there’s a smaller amount of mixture.
   
   
   
5. Put a layer of puff pastry over the dish. I always let it fall over the sides so it puffs up nicely and we get extra pastry with the pie!
   
   
   
6. Cook it in the oven at 180C for 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and you can hear the gravy bubbling inside.
   
   
   
7. Serve with chips or mashed potato or even more vegetables and most importantly, enjoy!
   

Moroccan Chicken Pot Pies with cumin and a crisp filo top

One of my favourite dishes is chicken pie, unfortunately I would normally make that with puff pastry, not good for the diet! So I’ve been meaning to try this one for a while and it was absolutely delicious, a great twist on your class chicken pie. The spices work so well with the chicken and vegetables and the filo top tastes just as great as puff pastry would, if not better! You must try it if you love chicken pie. It says to serve with a crisp green salad but personally I don’t think that’s needed, maybe a bit of broccoli if you feel you want more veg.

So here’s the recipe and some pictures to make you want to try it even more:

Ingredients:

Spray oil

2 large onions, finely sliced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

3 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

4 chicken breasts, cut into chunks

3 tbsp cornflour

600ml chicken stock

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

100g frozen peas

Salt and pepper

3 sheets of filo pastry

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180c.

Spray a little oil into a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until softened. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further minute before adding the cumin and paprika. Then, allow them to toast for a minute.

In the meantime, toss the chicken pieces in the cornflour and a little salt and pepper until evenly coated. Stir these into the onion mixture and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the stock, stirring all the time to blend in the cornflour without any lumps. Turn up the heat and add the carrots, peas and seasoning. Allow to come to the boil, then pop a lid on and reduce to simmer gently for 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce thickened.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping, slice up the filo pastry width ways and separate the sheets.

Once ready, divide the pie filling among six ramekins or hot pot dishes. Then divide the filo strips into six bunches. Pick up the bunches and lay one messily on top of each pie. The more bits that are sticking up and messy, the more likely the filo is to crisp up. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and piping hot, the filo is crisp and golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and serve.

For anyone wondering, there is also only 320 calories per serving!