Chicken and Stuffing Pie

This pie might look daunting, but I promise you, it’s easier than you think. It’s great with onion chutney for a picnic lunch, or with mash and gravy for an evening meal. If you are buying pre-made shortcrust pastry, you will probably need two packs – you can always make jam tarts with any leftovers!

Ingredients:
For the pastry:
400g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tbsp salt
100g butter, diced
100g light suet
150ml cold water

For the filling:
600g of chicken thighs (or breasts sliced lengthways to make two flat breasts)
1 tbsp oil, plus extra for greasing
170g pack sage and onion stuffing mix
400-500g good-quality sausages
1 egg, beaten

Pre-heat your oven to 180c and lightly oil a loose bottomed cake tin.

First, make the pastry by tipping the flour into a large bowl with 1 tsp salt. Add the butter and suet, and rub into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Slowly pour in 150ml cold water, stirring with your hand, until the pastry just comes together. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead together into a ball. Take one-third of the pastry and set aside for the lid. Roll out the rest to a thickness of a £1 coin and line your oiled cake tin with it, leaving any overhang for now.

Now for the filling!

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a high heat and brown the chicken on each side. You don’t need to worry about cooking the chicken all the way through; you just need to seal it. Set aside.

Set aside 2 tbsp of the stuffing mixture and make up the rest using 3/4 the amount of water that the packet says. Spoon the stuffing into the base of the pie, packing down well and smoothing the top.

Arrange the chicken over the stuffing, cutting pieces if needed to fill in any gaps and pressing lightly into the stuff to eliminate any gaps.

Squeeze the sausage meat from their skins into a bowl and lightly season. Form the sausage meal into a flat disc and press evenly over the top of the chicken. Again, make sure that it’s pressed down firmly to avoid gaps, and then scatter over the reserved dry stuffing.

Roll out the remaining pastry until big enough to cover the pie with an overlap. Brush the edge of the pie with egg, then lift on the pastry lid and press edges to seal. Trim the edges and roll down excess to thoroughly seal.

Cut a little cross in the middle of the pie to let steam out, and you can decorate the seal all round with the prongs of a fork. Brush all over the top with egg and bake for 50 minutes. Brush all over again with egg and cook for another 10 minutes.

It’s easier to remove the pie from the tin when it’s cool, so leave to cool be removing and cutting into slices.