As you will know by now I'm not too amazing when it comes to pastry.
I didn't even make this pastry, it came ready made from the shop, but still I can't seem to get it right.
Don't get me wrong, it tasted fine, just didn't look too good.
The edges, seem to come away from the pie dish! But not to fuss, as I said it tasted nice.
I did get tricky with my 'pie' wording though, don't you think?
Now the recipe is from a
Marks and Spencer recipe card that they've started to put in their food halls.
Seeing as I work there and am addicted to all things foodie, I picked one up on Monday and felt compelled to make this pie that very day!
I had some cooked chicken in my fridge left from Sunday's dinner - perfect.
Here is my slightly altered recipe to serve two greedy people.
You will need:400g cooked chicken
1 tbsp olive oil
2 leeks - trimmed and sliced
3 rashers of bacon - sliced
250g mascarpone cheese
100ml of double cream
3 tsp of English Mustard
small handful of fresh parsley - chopped
1 egg - beaten
250g pack of ready made shortcrust pastry
How to do it:Preheat your oven to 190C/375F/Gas5 (170C for fan ovens)
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the bacon and the leeks on a low heat until soft and cooked. You do not want to brown the leeks though. I say about 10-15 minutes on a low heat will do the job nicely.
Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked chicken, mascarpone, cream, mustard, parsley and 2 tbsp of boiling water. Give it all a good stir. Season well with salt and pepper and have a taste.
Once your happy with the seasoning, add just half of the beaten egg - be sure to keep the other half for later.
Spoon the mixture into a 1 litre pie dish. Roll out the pastry and lay over the filling.
Trim the edges and then crimp to seal, trying to make a better job than I did!
If you feel tricky then you can make a decoration out of the left over pastry.
Now brush the pastry with the rest of the beaten egg and bake in your preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes until golden.
Make sure the filling is hot before serving.
