Chicken And Mushroom Pies

Start off by making the Chicken and Mushroom filling. Peel and finely chop the onion.

If using a variety of mushrooms, it is advisable to remove the gills from brown and portobello mushrooms, as they can impart a slightly bitter flavor and may affect the color of the filling. The gills of button mushrooms, however, may be retained, as they are milder and less likely to alter the dish. For a cleaner presentation and smoother texture, I also chose to peel the outer layer of the mushroom caps—though this step is optional. Once prepared, the mushrooms were finely chopped for even distribution throughout the filling.

Rinse the chicken breasts, cut them into small cubes and place into a bowl.

Season the chicken with salt, fine black pepper, garlic powder, chicken spice, dried thyme and dried parsley.

Mix together until the chicken is thoroughly coated in the spices.

To a pot on medium-high heat, add in the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add in the seasoned chicken.

Spread out the chicken and allow it to cook for 5 minutes or until it changes colour.

Next, add in the butter, chopped onions and the mushrooms.

Mix together and sauté for a further 5 minutes.

Now its time to add in the crushed garlic. Adding it at this point will prevent it from burning. Mix and allow to simmer for 2 minutes.

Thereafter, I added in some corn flour as this will allow it to thicken slightly.

Stir the corn flour in until it is completely dissolved without any lumps.

Now for the saucy part – pour in the cream. I have used long life cream but feel free to use fresh cream.

Stir in the cream until it all blends in together.

You will notice the mixture becomes a lot thicker as it simmers. Add in ¼ cup of water as this will loosen the mixture.

The mixture shouldn’t be too thick or too runny. At this point adjust salt according to taste.

Turn off the heat and allow the Chicken and Mushroom filling to cool completely or else the hot filling will melt the pastry.

I have used 10cm foil tins which I got from Westpack.

The pastries should be thawed in the refrigerator beforehand. For this recipe I used Woolworths Puff Pastry and Today’s Shortcrust pastry.

Start by unrolling the Shortcrust Pastry. This is going to be used as the base of the pies.

Use a cutter or a lid like I have which is a bit bigger than the circumference of the foil tin.

Cut around the lid or cutter to form a circle.

You should get about 3 circles out of this.

Please do not roll out the pastry to try and make more shapes. Gently fold the pastry with your hands and press down to create more circles. You should get 8 circles in total.

Place the Shortcrust Pastry circles one at a time into the foil tins. Press down firmly so it covers the surface & outer edges

Flip the tin over & cut off excess pastry.

Continue this process until all the tins have the pastry base.

Add the Chicken and Mushroom filling.

Unroll the Puff Pastry. Do not roll it with a rolling pin – leave it as is.

Take one of the foil tins and use this as a guide to cut the circles for the lids of the pie.

You should get the whole 8 circles cut out from the pastry – the excess can be used to create shapes for the top of the pies if preferred.

Crack the egg into a bowl and beat using a fork.

Lightly brush some egg wash around the edge of the pie base.

Place the puff pastry lids over & gently press down the edges so the lids can stay put.

Use the tip of a fork to crimp the edges of the pastry & pierce the fork in the middle of the lid so steam can escape when baking.

These can now be packed & frozen to consume whenever you want them.

If you want to bake them, preheat your oven to 200° Celsius. Brush the remaining egg wash over the pies.

Bake for 10 minutes at 200° Celsius – this will allow the puff pastry to rise. After 10 minutes lower the heat to 180° Celsius & allow to bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

Alternatively, these can be air fried at 180° Celsius for 20 minutes, then flip them over & air fry for a further 5 minutes just to make sure the bottom cooks as the element in the air fryer is only at the top.

Allow them to cool for a bit on the baking tray before serving.

The bottom side of the pies should be thoroughly cooked – some have mentioned that their pastry didn’t cook through so this would depend on your oven. I would suggest flipping them over to make sure it is cooked or pop them into your air fryer (flipped).

These pies are perfect for lunch boxes, a quick dinner, ramadan preps, etc.