Chicken Pie

Hubby and I are very certainly back on the old calorie counting regime [sigh]. My motivation levels are quite low this time round, chocolate just tastes so good! But if I want to fit into my lovely floaty aqua dress for a friends wedding in September (I know! Ages away - plenty of time to loose those [few] extra pounds right?) then I guess I had better start now, especially as Easter is just around the corner and all those yummy chocolate recipes are going to come oozing out of the woodwork to tempt me off my virtuous path!

If I didn't tell you this was a weight watchers recipe I'm guessing you'd never know!

Chicken Pie

Low fat cooking spray

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

3 x 150g skinless chicken fillets, cut into 2cm strips

250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced thickly

1 garlic clove, crushed

400ml chicken stock (made from a cube is fine!)

2 tsp cornflour

2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh tarragon (I couldn't lay my hands on any so I used a good sprinkling of dried mixed herbs instead - worked pretty well too!)

175g broccoli, cut into small florets

250g ready rolled puff pastry

2 tsp milk

Heat a large frying pan and mist with low fat spray. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 5 mins, adding a little water if it looks like sticking. Add the chicken and cook for 3 mins before adding the mushrooms. Saute the mixture for a further 5 mins until the juices from the mushrooms have been released and evaporated. Stir in the garlic and stock and simmer gently for 5 mins. Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C.

Blend the cornflour with 1 tbsp water and add to the pan with the tarragon, stirring continuously until thickened. Remove from the heat and season to taste. Stir in the broccoli and spoon into a 1.2 litre pie dish. Set aside to cool for 5 mins.

Roll out the pastry a little more thinly to fit the top of the pie dish. Trim the edges and use the trimmings to stick round the rim of the dish. Brush the trimmings with a little of the milk and carefully lay the pastry over the top. Knock together the pastry edges to seal the pie. Make 3 small slashes in the top and brush with the remaining milk. Place on a baking tray and bake for 20 mins, or until the pastry is golden and puffed up. Serve hot.

* To freeze the pie, cool the filling at the end of step 2, then top with the pastry. Cover and freeze. Defrost overnight in the fridge before brushing with milk. Bake for 30-40 mins, covering the top if it gets too brown.

Serves 4

Irresistible Mag - Spring 2010

This was really nice. we' ll be having this again very soon. In fact its so nice that I would even make it for the next time we have company over, although I think I'll make them in individual pie dishes, there is something a bit more extravagant about a whole pie all to yourself!