Chicken & broccoli pie with step by step easy shortcrust pastry
A funny thing happened on Friday afternoon. A chap knocked on the door and delivered an enormous wicker hamper, stuffed with every possible seasonal vegetable you can imagine. I was in the garden, and was, frankly, slightly confused when #2 came out to find me and declare that ‘some bloke just dropped off a big box of broccoli and stuff’. Anyhoo, it turned out not to be an anonymous food parcel from the locals, (bless ‘em, they’ve had to stand by, helpless, whilst witnessing my shambolic attempts at gardening), but a ‘Best in Season’ hamper from those lovely chaps at Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board. So our weekend was full of absolutely yummy produce, all available right now in an Irish field near you (or a supermarket, if you’re lazy).
Saturday morning, we had a lovely big fry up, along with a huge stir-fry of big, fat tomatoes, lovely fresh mushrooms and some sliced red and yellow peppers. Saturday evening, we had a big pot of leek and potato soup, with some home made cheese bread, and today I set to work making the mother of all pies. So start with the filling then. You’ll need:
1 carrot, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, diced
4 chicken breasts
1 head of broccoli, split into florets (or 1 leek, which are also fabulous at the moment, sliced)
1 tbsp flour
300ml chicken stock
Slug of double cream
Grab a heavy-based casserole or frying pan, pour in a couple of tablespoons of oil, then throw in the carrot, onion and celery. Fry gently until the vegetables soften, then add in the cubed chicken breasts. A sprinkle of thyme would be lovely here, unfortunately I managed to kill mine. Season well and continue to fry until the chicken starts to go opaque (it doesn’t need to be cooked through), then sprinkle over the tablespoon of flour. Carry on stirring while you pour in the chicken stock and add in a big slug of double cream:
Now leave the chicken on a low heat to bubble gently and reduce a tiny bit while you quickly blanch some broccoli in some boiling salted water and make the pastry.
A Pastry Pep-talk
Now, I feel a little word about pastry is called for here. Let’s face it, pastry’s a pain in the arse. Frankly, EVERYONE is crap at pastry. It falls apart, or it’s too dry, or it sticks to the board… but that’s kind of the point: it’s supposed to look homemade, so if it’s a bit wonky, or you have to patch it or whatever, who cares? It’ll still be a pie that you made with your own fair hands, and infinitely the better for it. There. I’ll get off my soap box now.
There’s no big ‘secret’ to pastry making, although keeping everything cool and using a light touch definitely helps. For a basic shortcrust pastry ‘pie lid’, you’ll need:
115g plain flour
Pinch of salt
60g cold butter, cubed
Couple tbsp cold water
So weigh out the flour, add in a pinch of salt, then throw in the butter.
Now lightly, with just the very tips of your fingers, start to break up the lumps of butter, rubbing them gently into the flour until you get a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs:
Now, sprinkle over a couple of tablespoons of very cold water, and with a knife, start to bring the mixture together:
If it’s a little dry, sprinkle on a tiny bit more, until you can gently bring it together into a ball with your hands:
If you’re doing the pastry in advance, wrap it in clingfilm and leave it somewhere cool (I find it gets too hard in the fridge, but it’s up to you). Otherwise, sprinkle with a little more flour and roll out, turning 1/4 turn with each roll and making sure it’s not sticking, until it’s slightly bigger than your pie dish or casserole.
Back to the chicken, then. Now just drain the broccoli and add in to the chicken. Don’t worry if there seems to be a bit of excess liquid as some will disappear during cooking. Now just roll your pastry lid over your rolling pin and unroll it over the top of your pie. Because I’m lazy, and let’s face it, this is just home cooking, I just leave it in the casserole and fling the pastry lid on top, tucking over the edges, but if you’re entertaining or whatever, you can put the contents into a pie dish and neatly crimp the edges, brushing with a little milk to glaze the top.
And that’s it. Bung the pie in the oven at gas 4/180 for 20 – 30 minutes until it’s golden brown, and serve with more seasonal vegetables (we had honey roasted parsnips, carrots, peas and creamy mashed potato), then just sit back and bask in the glory especially reserved for people who make their own pies.
Go on, you deserve it.
PS: Big, huge thanks to Bord Bia for all my lovely fresh goodies. If you want to know what’s in season now, check out Best in Season for ideas, recipes, stuff for kids, and links to some rather fantastic food blogs *cough*.
43 Responses to “Chicken & broccoli pie with step by step easy shortcrust pastry”
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PS Alex managed to prize the flapjack from the tin and it tastes lovely!
I want to make it and it will end in tears.
Light touch? You are kidding right?
Can I not just be the exception to this DIY pastry business?
Laura Sausage Fingers
MOST impressed with the slug of cream and the Jennyproof pastry recipe.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by englishmum and Helen White. Helen White said: Rt @englishmum New post: Chicken and broccoli pie http://bit.ly/T5Deh A culinary tribute to @AnBordBia <<- yummytastic! [...]
No.
I will definitely be trying this asap – such wonderful comfort food!
[...] Despite this, our wonderful wedding blessing in September was everything we’d hoped it would be, and I continued with the family theme, making Grandma Maudie’s cranberry teabread, as well as chicken and broccoli pie with step by step pastry. [...]
I felt like something different for dinner and tried this recipe (with a few differences) the pastry was actually really easy and I did not mess it up! So thanks for the step by step instructions! My husband was super impressed!