Simon Butcher

You'll need (serves 3-6 people):

• An oven
• Two pans, with one with a lid that is large enough to hold the mixture; the other may be smaller
• A pie dish
  Here I'm using 26cm × 17cm × 9cm (10" × 6½" × 3½") ceramic roaster
• 350g (10½℥) of chicken breast
• 250g (9℥) of button mushrooms
  Also known in some parts of the world simply as “table mushrooms”.
• 100g (3½℥) of bacon
• 500g (17½℥) of ready-made (rolled) shortcrust pastry
  Before starting, allow your pastry to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes to give it flexibility and avoid cracking.
• Olive oil
• Half a clove of garlic
• 200mℓ (6½fl℥) of cream
  Also known as “single cream”, containing around 20% milk fat.
• Half a tablespoon of powdered chicken stock
• 30g (1℥) of butter
• Half a teaspoon of salt
• Ground black pepper

What to do:

1. Chop the chicken breasts into chunky but edible bites
2. Chop the mushrooms into quarters, roughly the same size or slightly larger than your chicken chunks
3. Finely chop the bacon into small pieces
4. Dice the garlic into fine but chunky pieces
5. Heat a small amount of olive oil in the large pan and add the chicken when the pan is hot
6. As chicken is turning from pink to white, grind black pepper over the chicken while stirring
7. Once the chicken is white, add the chopped mushrooms into the pan, and stir well
8. Just as the chicken is has turned brown and the mushrooms are shrinking, mix in the chopped garlic, turn off the heat and cover the pan, allowing it to simmer slightly
9. Heat the second pan until hot and cook the small bacon bits until just starting to turn brown — Mix these into the large pan
10. In the second pan, at low heat, melt the butter, and carefully mix in the powdered chicken stock and cream until smooth, taking care not to allow the mixture to boil — The mixture should be runny enough to just coat the back of a wooden spoon
11. Combine the sauce from the second pan into the first pan and mix thoroughly
12. Grease the pie dish with a small amount of butter to stop the pastry from sticking
13. Line the pie dish with pastry to create the base of the pie, and pour the mixture into the pie dish
14. Add two layers of pastry to the top of the pie, squeezing the edges of the pie top gently into the side of the pie to make sure it is well sealed
15. Decorate the top of the pie with left over pastry if you wish
16. Prick the top of the pie with a fork a couple of times to allow air to escape
17. Bake in a preheated oven at 200℃ (390℉) for 20–30 minutes until the pastry is well cooked and the pie smells wonderful!

So, a very easy pie to put together; I would recommend you serve the pie with a light salad after standing for at least 10 minutes to allow the gravy to congeal slightly, and enjoy!

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