LEFTOVER CHICKEN PIE

The remains of about half a large chicken is perfect for this with
cooked leftover sausages, potatoes, carrots and whatever else you
can find; ham, bacon, mushrooms, spinach, peas or sweetcorn. The
only thing that really matters is that there’s lots of chunky stuff in
the pie, as opposed to a few little bits and pieces floating around in
a sea of gravy – which is what the so-called ‘family pies’ you find in
the supermarket consist of.
Unless you’re a keen and very experienced pastry maker (which
is highly unlikely if you’re reading this book) it’s better – and
much, much quicker – to use ready-made puff pastry, either fresh
or frozen, than do it yourself.
1 lb (500 g) pack of ready-made puff pastry
Leftover cooked chicken
Leftover cooked sausages
Leftover cooked vegetables: potatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower;
also tinned peas, broad beans or sweetcorn
1 onion
Spinach
1 tin condensed soup (asparagus, mushroom or chicken)
Chicken stock
Milk
Oil
Salt & pepper
Method
1. Lightly grease the sides of a very large ovenproof dish (roughly
16 in x 101⁄2 in/40 cm x 26 cm) with butter or margarine.
Warm a little oil in a very large saucepan and fry the onion for
a couple of minutes before adding the chopped up chicken,
sausages and leftover vegetables to the pan.
2. After a few minutes add the tin of condensed soup to the pan
then fill the empty tin twice with milk or chicken stock, or a
combination of the two, adding the extra liquid to the pan and
giving it a good stir.
3. Add some fresh torn up spinach and/or a drained tin of
sweetcorn to the pan, season with salt and pepper and keep
over a very low heat while you roll out the pastry.
4. Roll out the whole packet of pastry until it looks about the right
size to fit the dish, but try not to roll it out too large and too
thin or you’ll have a lot of waste and the layer of pastry on the
pie won’t be thick enough to puff up properly.
5. Put the filling into the dish then cover with the pastry, tucking
the ends in around the edges inside the dish.
6. Brush the pastry with milk and bake the pie in the oven, Gas
mark 6–7 (200–220ºC) for 15–20 minutes until the pastry is
risen and golden.
7. Serve with any kind of potatoes, more vegetables or baked
beans.
Tip
Leftover cooked chicken goes even further if you mince it.
Minced chicken mixed with tarragon, salt, black pepper, a
very little lemon juice and mayonnaise makes a great
sandwich filling.