Chicken, Bacon & Mushroom Pie

Serves - 6-8 

Prep time 30 minutes 

Cook time 1 hour 20 minutes 

INGREDIENTS: 

Rough Puff Pastry  

• 200g plain flour 
• 200g salted butter, room temperature and cubed  
• 100ml cold water  

 Pie filling  

• 1kg skinless chicken thigh fillet, cut into 2cm cubes 
• 2Tbsp cornflour 
• 6 rashers bacon (180g Murray River smoked bacon) 
• 1 brown onion, diced  
• 1 carrot, diced 
• 1 celery stick, diced 
• 1 leek, thinly sliced  
• 300g button mushrooms, sliced 
• 2 sprigs thyme 
• 2 bay leaves  
• 1Tbsp dried tarragon leaves  
• 50ml white wine 
• 250ml chicken stock 
• 150ml pure cream 

 METHOD:

1. To make the pastry, place the flour into a large bowl or straight onto a clean bench top. Add the cubes of butter and rub through the flour until it is evenly dispersed but you still have small chunks of butter visible.  
2. Make a well in the centre and add half of the water. Mix by hand, slowly adding a little more water if needed until you have a shaggy dough. Shape it into a rough square, wrap it in plastic wrap or cover in a clean tea towel and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.  
3. After 30 minutes, take the dough out of the fridge and place it onto a clean bench top dusted with flour. Roll the dough out into a long rectangle roughly 20cm x 45cm, trying to keep the edges nice and square. With the short end in front of you, fold it up so that the short edge meets the middle of the dough. Do the same with the top end. Fold one half over the other to create a book fold. 
4. If the weather is cool enough, you can repeat this process straight away by turning the dough so that the short end is in front of you. You may need a little more flour on the bench. Roll it out again into a rectangle around 20cm x 45cm and repeat the folding as before. Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. The dough will then be ready to roll out and use when you are ready to bake the pie. If it is too warm after the first fold, place it into the fridge again before attempting the second.  
5. To make the pie filling, place the cornflour into a bowl and season with some salt and pepper. Toss the chicken with the cornflour. Heat some olive oil in a large pan or casserole dish and cook the chicken in batches until golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside. 
6. Heat a little more olive oil in the pan and add the bacon, onion, carrot, celery and leek as well as the thyme, tarragon and bay leaves and saute until soft and caramelised. Add the mushrooms and toss through, cooking for a couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper.  
7. Add the chicken back to the pan and deglaze with white wine. Once the wine has reduced away, add the chicken stock and the cream and stir through. Simmer for around 15 minutes or until the mix has thickened slightly. Adjust seasoning if necessary and set aside to cool.  
8. Preheat the oven to 200℃. Once the mix has cooled, remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out to around 3-4mm thick. Cut a circle around 1.5cm larger than the pie dish and make a slice in the centre.  
9. Add the pie filling to the pie dish and place the round of pastry on top, tucking it tightly around the sides. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with coarsely ground black pepper. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp. 
10. With the extra pastry on the bench, cut out some extra irregular shapes and place them onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle some black pepper on top. In the final 20 minutes of the pie’s cooking time, add your tray of extra pastry shapes to the oven and bake until golden and crisp (15-20min). 
11. Remove the pie and pastry from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving. 

Breda is a freelance food content creator, recipe developer and stylist living and working in Sydney. She is passionate about all food that is full of flavour; community, family, heritage and hospitality are at the centre of her food philosophy. She runs Una Mas Creative with her husband, making original and branded content. Check out Breda's Instagram here, and Unamas Creative page here!