Chicken and Mushroom Pie

I used to have a habit of throwing away a fair bit of food, but as prices have gone up I’m a bit more conscious of how much I waste. One of the worst areas I noticed was after a Sunday lunch. With chicken I was not a fan of the legs so just ended up binning them – bad I know! Since I changed my mindset one of my favourite ways to use up leftovers is in a pie. Really easy to make and just as good the next day to take to work for lunch.

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

Serves 4 – 6 (depending on how hungry you are!)

Ingredients:

Leftover Chicken – chopped

1 Onion – chopped

8 Mushrooms – sliced

1tbsp Dried Sage

2 Bay Leaves

25g Butter

25g Plain Flour

600ml Milk

Salt and Pepper

250g Readymade Pastry (Puff or Shortcrust)

1 egg – whisked

1. Preheat oven to 180/ Gas 4 – 5.
2. Gently heat the milk in a small pan with the bay leaves and chopped onion to infuse. Remove the bay leaves and discard.
3. In a seperate pan melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook stirring continuously for 1 – 2 minutes to cook off the flour.
4. Take the pan off the heat and gradually whisk in the milk and onion until smooth. Return to the heat and bring tothe boil – stirring all the time.
5. Add the chicken, mushroom and sage. Simmer gently for 5-10 minutes till thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Roll out pastry on a floured surface to about 0.5cm thickness.
7. Tip the chicken mixture into your chosen pie dish. Lay your pastry over the mixture. Trim to about 1cm over your dish. Push the edges down arond the sides to seal. Put a few slits into the pastry to let the steam out.
8. Brush pastry all over with egg. If you don’t like egg use some milk. Bake for approx 25 minutes until golden.