(Serves 4)
Ingredients
_ A saucepan, baking sheet, deep frying pan and 4 ramekins
_ 3 eggs
_ Salt
_ Olive oil
_ 85g self-raising flour
_ 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
_ 150g assorted mushrooms (crimini, shiitake, button)
_ 2 medium-sized leeks
_ 1 clove garlic
_ 1tbsp margarine (Flora)
_ 3tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
_ 1tsp fresh thyme
_ 1tbsp plain flour
_ 120ml vegetable stock
_ 2tbsp Marsala wine
_ 120ml skimmed milk
1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 2/150˚C. Separate the egg whites from the yolks and stick ½tbsp of egg white in a small dish. Heat 120ml of water in a pan with a big pinch of salt and good glug of olive oil. Once the mixture boils, add the self-raising flour. Remove from the heat and stir with a wooden spoon until it forms a ball. Let the dough cool for 5 minutes. This step is crucial to avoid cooking the eggs when they are added.
2. Once the dough has cooled, gradually add the egg whites and beat vigorously. The dough should then be thick and sticky. Drop it in 4 even portions onto the baking sheet in circles the same diameter as the top of the ramekins. Brush the dough with a little leftover egg white, put the tray in the oven and turn the heat up to gas mark 8/230˚C for 10 minutes. Then turn down to gas mark 2/150˚C and bake for a further 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut a slit on the side of each pie. Put them to one side and make the filling.
3. Chop the chicken into bite size pieces. Trim the ends off the mushrooms wash the leeks and peel the garlic. Then thinly slice all the veggies. Fry the chicken, garlic and two big pinches of salt in a deep frying pan with a glug of the vegetable stock. Stir often until the chicken’s cooked through. Remove the chicken and chuck the leeks and mushrooms in with half the margarine, a pinch of salt and the herbs. Fry over a medium heat for 4 minutes. Remove the veg from the pan, then drop in the rest of the margarine and sprinkle in the plain flour, whisking the ingredients together. Next, slowly whisk in the rest of the stock and Marsala wine. On a low heat, whisk in the milk until it thickens. Stick the chicken and veggies back in until warmed through.
4. Slice the pie crusts in half. Place the bottom half in the ramekin then fill with the chicken mixture. Add the top of the pie crust and bake at gas mark 4/175˚C for 10 minutes.
For Vegetarians
Lose the chicken and add a chopped, peeled carrot and sliced red peppers at the same time as adding the leeks. This will save 1g of saturated fat, cut the calories by 40 per serving and speed up your preparation time as you don’t have to cook the chicken.
