Chicken Pot Pies - Mini Pie Revolution

So it's the bank holiday weekend, we were out on Friday night and we're not going out tonight so I've spent a lovely leisurely day baking while himself played the ps3, however, I think I might be coming down with something though, maybe a cold, maybe a sore throat, maybe nothing, this may be due to me wandering around at 3 o'clock in the morning with no coat on Friday night, I blame the Harvey Wallbangers for that bad decision!!!

I made gorgeous cheesecake topped brownies today which I'll blog about again and something else lovely that'll be a suprise at the end of the month and also these pies for dinner that are for a blog event called the Mini Pie Revolution hosted this month by Ann at Redacted Recipes.

I make chicken pies on a regular basis during the winter and normally don't measure what I put in at all but have endeavoured to make this as accurate as possible. Also I don't bother to chill my pastry for the top of the pie which is probably breaking every pastry rule in the book, this is how my mother did it when I was small and it's the only time I don't chill my pastry and it turns out just fine.

For 4 individual pies you'll need:

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 chicken breasts (I used free range), cut into bitesize pieces
3 carrots
2 medium onions
2 handfuls of frozen peas
2 tbsp flour
1 litre of stock (I used chicken but veg is fine too)
a good dash of soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh thyme/oregano
Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to Gas 5/180C
Heat a pan and add oil, saute the onions on a low heat stirring every so often.
Add the carrots and continue to saute for a few mins until the carrots start to soften, add the chicken and brown.
Sprinkle over the flour and stir well to coat everything.
Add the stock and a hood dash of soy sauce, salt and pepper and herbs (go easy on the salt as the soy sauce can be quite salty).
Cook on the hob for 10 mins until the chicken is almost cooked.


For the pastry you'll need:

6oz flour
2 oz butter, diced
3-44 tbsp water

Rub the butter into the flour to create a breadcrumb like texture
Add the water and blend until dough forms (you might need more water but start with 3 tbsp and take it from there).
Roll out the dough on a floured surface, brush some water onto the edge of whatever dish you're using and put the pastry on. I like to leave mine hang down so it's kind of rustic looking but do whatever you feel suits your pie style.
Brush with beaten egg and bake 10-15 mins or until golden brown.