The temperature in Hong Kong dropped quite a bit last week which definitely called for plenty of soup, pie and casserole meals. Even though we need no excuse to eat pie, this week is officially British Pie week so I thought I’d resurrect one of my earlier posts, Leftover Chicken Pie.
Leftover Chicken Pie
Leftover Chicken Pie is generally made of whatever chicken meat is left over after a roast chicken dinner. However, I have to admit, these days we are having to roast two chickens to ensure we have enough leftover chicken meat for another meal.
Method:
- Start by removing any bones and skin from your leftover chicken pieces. Remove the skin from the sausage and roll the sausage meat into small balls in the palm of your hand. Chop your leftover vegetables if you have any, otherwise leeks or mushrooms will do nicely.
- Lightly fry the sausage till golden brown in olive oil. Put aside on a plate lined with kitchen roll. Sautee the leeks (if using) and mushrooms in the same pan you browned the sausages in. Set aside to cool and start on the sauce.
The Roux:
- Begin making a basic white sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and mix in the flour and cook for at least 1 minute to form a roux. Gradually add the stock little by little, stirring all the time, until you have a sauce the consistency of single cream. If you warm the stock before adding to the roux it will make this process a whole lot quicker. If you’d like some step by step photos of the roux making process you can check out my recipe for Spinach & ricotta cannelloni.
- Once all the filling ingredients are ready add the meat and vegetables to the sauce, combine well, add the chopped parsley, salt and pepper.
For the Pastry:
Now start to roll out the pastry. If I’m making my own pastry I always double the quantity and freeze a batch for later use. Here is a simple to follow short crust recipe. If you don’t have time or any to hand you can just buy some. I often use bought and ready rolled, shortcrust or flaky pastry, they both work well and both readily available from the supermarket here in HK.
- Roll out the pastry to about 5mm in thickness, dampen the edge of your pie dish with water, milk or a mix of beaten egg and milk and line the edge with a strip of pastry.
- Dampen the top of the pastry strip and lay the sheet of pastry over the top.
- Press along the edges with the back of a fork or your thumb and index finger to seal.
- Make a couple of cuts in the middle, to release the steam. Brush the top of the pie with the remaining egg wash, which will give it a lovely golden colour.
You can now just keep the pie in the fridge until ready to cook (you can prepare this the day before) or place in a heated oven at 200C for about 30-40 minutes. Check the filling is piping hot (you will see gravy bubbling out of those central cuts) and the crust is a lovely golden brown.
Serve with more greens of your choice and mashed potato.
Pies really are quick and easy meals and a piefect way to use up any leftover meat and veg!
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gx
Linking up with the #CookBlogShare Week 10 hosted by EasyPeasyFoodie & Highjacked by Twins
A deliciously satisfying way to use up your Sunday roast chicken leftovers.
- 400 g Chicken Previously Cooked
- 400 g Sausage Preferably Fresh Italian, but any good quality sausage will do
- Parsley chopped
- 200 g Mushrooms
- 1 leek medium
- 400 g Pastry Short Crust or Flaky are good
- 400 g Chicken stock if you have a bottle of white wine open then you can replace 100ml water with white wine
- 40 g Plain Flour
- 40 g Butter
- Parsley chopped
- Salt & Pepper to season
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First debone and take the skin off all your leftover chicken
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Remove sausage skin and roll into small balls in the palm of your hand.
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Fry the sausage balls until golden brown. Put aside on some kitchen roll.
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Fry the mushrooms and / or leeks in the fat from the sausages. Put aside.
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Make a roux with the butter and flour. Add the warmed chicken stock a little at a time.
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Keep stirring until all the stock has been used up and you have a sauce the consistency of a single cream.
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Roll out your pastry on a lightly floured surface, to around 5mm in thickness.
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Cut a 2cm strip of pastry.
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Dampen around the edge of your pie dish with water, milk or an egg mix. I use a beaten egg with a dash of milk.
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Stick the strip of pastry around the edge of your pie dish and then dampen this too.
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Lay the sheet of pastry over the top and press down with the back of a fork or pinch with your thumb and index finger.
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Trim off any excess pastry and you can make some fancy decorations to go on top if you are feeling artistic.
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Bake the pie for 30-40 minute at 200C, or until the pastry is golden brown and piping hot in the middle.
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Let it stand for 5-10 minutes before serving with greens of your choice.
if you are making the pastry yourself, make sure you make double and freeze. Then you can make a pie at the drop of a hat the next time you have lots of leftovers to use up.
I am not a fan of leftovers, but enjoy them more when I can reinvent them. This would be so great right now – it’s coooold!
Leftovers are definitely more appetising and interesting when re-invented so no one even knows they are leftovers.
I love recipes which get creative with leftovers – we have a couple of fussy eaters here. A lovely mix of flavours!
Often is the case they taste better second time round too 🙂
Oh I love pie and love pie week as it gives me an excuse to make one. This looks delicious, leftovers are the perfect pie filling! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
You’re welcome Kirsty, hope your pie turned our great 🙂
I do love a leftover pie – often more than the original dish! #cookblogshare
I agree, often it’s better 2nd time round 🙂
I love roasting chickens, this is a great idea for the leftovers. Beautiful looking crust. Pinning to try it out 🙂
Thank you Jacqueline, hope you enjoy it. Of course everyone’s will vary depending on what get put in. Mine is different pretty much every time!
Oooh I do love a good chicken pie and this does look like a fab one! Your comment about having to roast two chickens made me laugh – it’s what my grandmother used to do! She was a cook who always worried there wouldn’t be enough food (even though there was always loads) and was well known for her ‘spare chicken’! Eb x
I always rather have some left over than risk not being enough. You just never know with growing kids if they are going to eat like horses or sparrows from one day to the next. At least there is always plenty you can do with leftover chicken. Your Grandmother was obviously a very clever lady 😉
I so want to make a chicken pot pie but I have a doubt. That flaky crust remains crusty on left over pot pies?
The flaky pastry will be crisp on day of cooking. If you have leftover pie and want to eat the next day then for best crispy result would be to re-heat in the oven.
We love chicken pot pie. This sounds so full of flavour. The crust sounds amazing….and you know it is the best part of the whole thing (at least in my opinion).
You are quite right Goria. The crust be it flaky or shortcrust is the star of the show.
I like the added mushrooms in there! Gives the dish a woody feeling! Great pie!
Thank you – you’re right, and mushrooms just go so well with chicken.
Great minds think alike. My chicken and mushroom pie is a bit less fancy but I do like your idea of adding sausage to it. I shall definitely try that.
Ha ha, yes they do indeed! The sausage is kind of a way of adding extra meat in case there is too little leftover chicken from a roast. This happens to us quite a lot because I’m feeding 6 of us. More recently we’ve started to roast 2 chickens just to get leftover meat. 🙂
Such a fabulously delicious way to use up leftovers. Loving that you added the sausage to this beauty to give even more deliciousness to explore with each and every bite. So good. . .and the perfect way to warm up in this crazy cold weather (we got snow yesterday and are expected to get hit hard with more snow in a couple of days).
Yes it is Lynn, and the sausage, specially fresh Italian does make it extra special. Hope you manage to stay warm, it’s bright and sunny in England where I am today just visiting for a week. 🙂
This recipe looks divine! I love the use of left over chicken and sausage in this dish. I also really like that you detailed how to make a roux… which can be hard. Great recipe!!
I agree Kristine, I know lots of my friends struggle with a roux and there are a couple of tricks to make it simpler and foolproof.
Yum I love a chicken pie and yours looks fabulous. I actually have some leftover chicken so may have to do it tomorrow now! #cookblogshare
Perfect idea Lucy, hope you enjoy it.
lol i like the bird sticking out of the pie, is there a function to it by any chance? Looks like it would “sing when the pie is done.
Oh yes I do love my black bird. It’s there to let out the steam. You can just cut slits in the pie of course but that wouldn’t be quite so attractive!