Chicken and mushroom pie

Prepare
30 mins to 1 hour
Cook
30 mins to 1 hour
Serve
Serves 4–6

This classic chicken and mushroom pie combines tender chicken, smoky bacon, and earthy chestnut mushrooms in a rich, creamy sauce, all topped with crisp, golden shortcrust pastry. Perfect for a comforting family dinner, this easy homemade pie is packed with flavour and pairs beautifully with creamy mash and seasonal greens.

This recipe describes how to make the pastry for the pie by hand, but if you prefer to use a food processor, see the description in the Tip section.

By Jeremy Lee

From Saturday Kitchen

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Ingredients

For the shortcrust pastry

  • 200g/7oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • salt, to taste
  • 40g/1½oz lard, cold and cut into cubes
  • 55g/2oz unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
  • 1–2 tbsp ice-cold water
  • 1 free-range egg, beaten, for glazing

For the filling

Recipe tips

Method

  1. To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl.

  2. Add the lard and butter and rub in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

  3. Add enough ice-cold water to bring the pastry together and mix to create a stiff dough.

  4. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly to bring the dough together. Shape into a flattened ball, wrap in cling film or pop into a plastic bag and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

  5. Meanwhile, to make the filling, place a pie funnel in the centre of a pie dish.

  6. Place the chicken pieces, bacon lardons, onion, mushrooms and parsley in a large bowl. Season well with salt and pepper.

  7. With clean hands, mix well and then pile the mixture around the pie funnel in the pie dish.

  8. Mix the flour, stock, mushroom ketchup and crème fraîche with a small whisk in a bowl until smooth.

  9. Pour this mixture over the filling. The filling now contains enough liquid as the mushrooms will release their liquid as they cook.

  10. Remove the pastry from the fridge and leave to come to room temperature for 5 minutes.

  11. Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5.

  12. On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out to an oval shape that is about 2cm/¾in larger than the top of the pie dish.

  13. Cut off a long strip of pastry that will fit around the lip of the pie dish (joining bits together if necessary).

  14. Lightly brush the lip of the pie dish with the beaten egg and press the pastry strip all around the lip. Brush this with beaten egg and, using a rolling pin, lift and lay the pastry over the pie dish, letting it fall on top of the pie funnel in the centre.

  15. Quickly cut a cross in the pastry that sits on top of the pie funnel and gently push it down over the funnel.

  16. Press the pastry onto the lip of the dish to seal and trim off the excess pastry.

  17. Crimp or scallop the edges firmly to seal.

  18. Mix the remaining beaten egg with a pinch of salt in a bowl. Brush the beaten egg mixture over the pie.

  19. Place the pie dish on a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes.

  20. Reduce the oven temperature to 150C/130C Fan/Gas 2 and bake for a further 25–30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling is cooked through.

  21. Serve with creamy mashed potatoes and green vegetables.

Recipe tips

To make the pastry using a food processor, sift the flour and salt together into the bowl of the machine.

Add the lard and butter and process for about 30 seconds until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Pour in some of the ice-cold water and pulse for 10 seconds. The dough should start to come together in large, raggy lumps. If not, add another tablespoon of ice-cold water and pulse again.

As soon as the dough forms into one big lump (do not over-process or the pastry will be tough), tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly.

Shape into a flattened ball, wrap in cling film or pop into a plastic bag and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before rolling out and using as per the recipe.