Chicken Pie with Herby Cobbler Topping

This is a great recipe for making a little bit of leftover chicken go a long way. If you are using chicken leftovers use what you have, a little more or less meat will not make much difference. The dish is savoury, filling and goes well with a jacket potato and some green veg. If you are cooking for one or two, bake it in ramekins and freeze the extras for another time.

Ingredients

For the filling

• 1 tbsp butter or oil
• 50g chopped bacon or ham
• 50g sliced mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, shredded (one large cooked breast is sufficient).
• 1-2 carrots, cooked and sliced
• 1 Kumara, cooked and cubed
• 500mls chicken stock
• 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp cold water

For the topping

• 150g self raising flour
• 75g butter
• a pinch of mixed herbs
• cold water to mix

Method

Pre Heat oven to 200°C. Heat butter or oil in a frying pan and gently cook the bacon and mushrooms till soft. Add the cooked chicken, vegetables and stock and bring up to simmering point.  Add the cornflour slurry and stir into chicken mixture, simmer, stirring until thickened. Pour the mixture into an ovenproof dish or ramekins.

To make the topping, place the flour, herbs and butter in the food processor and process in small bursts till mixture looks like breadcrumbs, add just enough cold water to form a dough.

Knead lightly on a floured bench then roll out to shape to fit your dish or ramekins. Place dough on top of chicken mixture and score a diagonal pattern on top with a knife. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 -25 minutes or ‘til risen and golden.

Tips

If you are starting with uncooked chicken, poach the chicken in water with a bay leaf a few peppercorns and some parsley or celery stalks until the chicken is cooked through. Strain the seasonings out of the liquid and skim any excess fat off the top and use your freshly made stock instead of stock powder.