Chicken & stuffing lattice pie

Name: Chicken & stuffing lattice pie
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 50 min
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour; 1 tsp fine salt; 200 g unsalted butter, diced and chilled; 100 g creme fraiche; 1 British Blacktail Free Range Medium Egg yolk, beaten, to glaze

John Whaite says "this pie is my ode to Christmas, to Wigan, and to the simple pleasures in life"

5 out of 5 stars(1) Rate this recipe

Serves8
CourseMain meal
Prepare30 mins
Cook1 hr 50 mins
Total time2 hrs 20 mins
Pluschilling

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Ingredients

For the pastry

300g plain flour
1 tsp fine salt
200g unsalted butter, diced and chilled
100g creme fraiche
1 British Blacktail Free Range Medium Egg yolk, beaten, to glaze

For the filling

2 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed oil
1 pack pack Essential Chicken Thigh Fillets, approx 560g, cut into small pieces
125ml white wine (or 50ml vodka)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 medium leek, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely sliced
2 tbsp plain flour
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
100g frozen peas
½ x 25g pack flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
50g creme fraiche

For the stuffing

85g Paxo Sage & Onion Stuffing Mix
80g dried cranberries

Method

For the pastry, put the flour, salt and butter into a food processor and pulse to a rough rubble. Add the crème fraîche and pulse until the mixture starts to clump together, then tip out onto the worktop and work briefly, until the pastry comes together. Wrap and chill for a few hours, or preferably overnight.
While it chills, make the filling. Heat a large saucepan over a medium-high heat and add 1 tbsp oil. Season the chicken with a little salt, then brown in the pan for 4-5 minutes – I do this in 2 batches. Put the browned chicken into a bowl and set aside, then pour the wine (or vodka) into the pan and scrape the chicken pieces and juices off the bottom with a wooden spoon. Pour the alcohol (there won’t be much left if using vodka) into the bowl with the meat
Return the pan to a medium heat and add the remaining oil, along with the onion, leek, celery and a pinch of salt. Fry the vegetables for 15 minutes, or until soft, then stir in the flour. Add the stock, peas, chicken and the pan juices, then bring to a simmer. Cook, partially covered, for 40 minutes until the chicken is tender and cooked through with no pink meat and the sauce is thickened and reduced. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley and crème fraîche, then season to taste with salt and ground white pepper. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6. Roll ⅔ of the pastry out into a disc large enough to fit into a 26cm pie dish. Line the base and sides of the dish with the pastry and leave the excess hanging over the edges. Fill the pie with the cooled chicken filling.
Make the stuffing according to pack instructions and mix the cranberries into it. Blob tablespoons of the stuffing onto the filling. Roll out the remaining pastry to a circle, about 28cm in diameter, and cut into 2cm strips, wide and long enough to fit across the top of the pie. Brush the lip of the pie with a little of the egg yolk to help the pastry to stick. Arrange these in a lattice pattern on top of the stuffing.
Trim the excess pastry and crimp the edges, then glaze the lattice with egg yolk. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown and piping hot. Serve with seasonal green vegetables.