rustic chicken pie

Whenever i made roasted chicken the night before, i’ve always use the leftover to make this pie. It’s a simple pie, the filling is nothing more than shredded chicken breast (as the breast is my least favourite part), potatoes, and some vegetables. If i have some, i’d also include chicken sausages and they tasted fantastic. Apart from being quick, simple and scrumptuos, the puff pastry gives you a really rusty crispy top, which i can never get enough of.

Serves 4

leftover roastec chicken meat, shredded

2 knobs of butter

1 medium onion, finely sliced

2 sticks of celery, finely sliced

2 Russet potatoes, peeled

a litre of chicken stock

Preheat oven to 220 degree C. Take a medium caserole pot and add a lug of olive oil and butter. Add the chicken, celery, onion and cook for 15 minutes. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Cut the potatoes into small cubes and boil in the pot for 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and transfer into the caserole pot. Add the chicken stock and simmer slowly for another 30 minutes.

Prepare your pie dough. Lay the dough on a 9-inch pie pan. Pour the chicken mixture into the pan and drape the top with another layer of the dough. Trim the edges, egg-wash the top and make a few holes by scoring mark on the top to allow steam to escape while baking. Put inside the oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until golden on top.

pan-roasted chicken breast

Pan roasting is a wonderful technique that should have been the repertoire of every home cook. Pan roast is simply the combination of two dry heat technique: saute and roast. The chicken breast is first seared in a pan over the stove top and then is turned and put in the oven to finish the cooking. The result is a browned exterior with a developed flavor while the interior is tender. What so great about the technique is that i always finish the cooking of the meat together with my choice of vegetables to be roasted together, that way, i could develop the flavor of the meat to incorporate the taste of the vegetables.

Serves 4

4 x 180g of boneless chicken breast

a knob of butter

300g cherry tomatoes and 4 large tomatoes

a couple of sprigs of rosemary

1 lemon

dried oregano

salt and freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your oven at 200 degree C. Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper. Rub some olive oil over the meat and coat with the dried oregano. Leave to rest for at least 10 minutes. Heat a frying pan with a lug of olive oil, melt the butter, and saute the chicken breast for 4 to 5 minutes, or until golden on both sides. Get a nice roasting tray, quarter the lemon and the large tomatoes and chuck into the tray. Add the cherry tomatoes into the tray too. Put the chicken breast inside the tray and lay the rosemary sprigs on top of the breast. Squezed some lemon juice over the breat for flavor, and finally pop the tray into the oven and roast for 15 – 20 minutes, depending on the size of the breast.