Leftover Chicken and Shallot Pie

Leftover roast chicken is a culinary gift because you can make so many dishes and pie is one of the best choices. I’m way too lazy in the week to make pastry so the ready-to-roll stuff is ideal. Vegetables are mostly water and can make a pie soggy so I keep this pie easy and crisp with just chicken and shallots with the gravy served on the side along with some simple veggies.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 2 Adults & 2 Kids
300g roasted chicken
2 echalion shallots
600ml gravy
100g creme fraiche
ready-to-roll short crust pastry
thyme
lemon
olive oil and salt

• Drizzle some olive oil into a skillet over a medium to medium/high heat. Peel and slice the shallots then loosen them into the pan and grind over with salt. Cook for 5 minutes stirring often so that they don’t burn. Chop the roast chicken into bite-sized pieces then add to the pan.
• Lower the temperature to medium then pour in the gravy and add the creme fraiche and stir. Zest the lemon then add half of the zest to the sauce then squeeze over the juice of half the lemon. Sprinkle with a tsp of thyme leaves.
• Cook for 1-2 minutes then strain through a sieve into a bowl. Put the chicken mix back into the pan and transfer the gravy to a small saucepan.

• Pre-heat the oven to 220°C (200°C Fan). Roll out the pasty then sprinkle evenly with the rest of the lemon zest and a couple of tsps of fresh thyme leaves then grind over with salt. Fold the pastry in half then roll out to the original size.
• Turn your pie dish upside down onto the pasty and cut out two discs. Place one disc inside the pie dish and press the pastry against the edges then prick the bottom a few times with a fork. Cut out a disc of greaseproof paper larger than the pie dish then place on top of the pastry. Pour ceramic beads (or dry pulses or beans) on top of the greaseproof until the dish is at least half full then pop into the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.
• Remove the beans and greaseproof then fill with the chicken mixture and top with the other disc of pastry and press down around the edges then prick twice with a fork or knife in the top to allow steam to escape. Turn the oven down to 195°C (175°C Fan) and bake the pie for 20 minutes. Serve with veggies and the warmed gravy.