The Australian Women’s Weekly — August 2017

134 FOODTOLOVE.COM.AUAUGUST 2017

Mushroom pie
SERVES 6 PREP AND COOK
TIME1 HOUR 40 MINUTES
(+ REFRIGERATION TIME)

2 tablespoons extra virgin
olive oil
2 medium (300g) onions,
chopped finely
200g Swiss brown
mushrooms, sliced
200g button mushrooms,
sliced
4½ cups (200g) finely
chopped kale leaves
200g full-fat ricotta
1 teaspoon finely grated
lemon rind
¼ cup coarsely chopped
flat-leaf parsley
¼ cup (20g) finely grated parmesan
445g sour cream shortcrust pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten

1 Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add the
onion; cook, stirring, over medium
heat for 10-15 minutes or until soft and
browned lightly. Add the mushrooms;
cook, stirring occasionally, for a further
10 minutes or until the mushrooms are
completely cooked down and no moisture
remains. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
2 In the same pan, add kale; cook, stirring,
for 5 minutes, or until kale is just tender.
Add to bowl with mushroom mixture. Stir
in remaining ingredients except pastry
and the egg; season to taste with sea salt
flakes and freshly ground black pepper.
3 Unroll thawed pastry; cut two 13cm x
40cm rectangles from pastry for top and
base. Refrigerate remaining pastry on a
tray to use for decorations. Place one pastry
rectangle onto a lightly floured sheet of
baking paper; top with a second sheet
of paper and roll out to form a rectangle
15cm x 45cm. This will be the top of pie.
Slide on paper onto a tray; refrigerate.

4 Line a large tray with baking paper. Put

the remaining rectangle of pastry onto

the lined tray. Spoon mushroom mixture

down the centre of pastry, leaving a 3cm

border. Lightly brush edges of pastry with

beaten egg. Remove top piece of pastry

from the refrigerator and lay it over the

mushroom mixture (below). Press and lift

edge slightly; roll towards filling to make an

attractive edge (or crimp with fingers and

thumb, or press lightly with a fork). Brush

with beaten egg. Chill until ready to bake.

5 Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200°C

(180°C fan-forced). Place a large oven tray

into the oven while preheating.

6 Remove remaining pastry from fridge;

using tip of sharp knife, cut out decorative

shapes. Top pastry with shapes; brush

with beaten egg. Slide the pie on baking

paper onto hot tray; bake on lower shelf

for about 30 minutes or until browned.

Not suitable to freeze or microwave.

Step 4

Creamy chicken pie

SERVES 6 PREP AND COOK TIME2 HOURS

30 MINUTES (+ COOLING TIME)

1.6kg whole chicken

6 parsley stalks

Creamy chicken pie

Michele’s tip

We used Carême sour cream

shortcrust pastry. If you prefer to

make your own pastry, use the

recipe from the Cheese and Bacon

Flan on page 148.

1 lemon, rind finely grated,

juiced

445g sour cream shortcrust

pastry, thawed

1 egg, beaten lightly

80g butter

1 medium (350g) leek,

chopped finely

1 stick (150g) celery, sliced

3 cobs corn, kernels removed

¼ cup (35g) plain flour

1 cup (250ml) cream

½ teaspoon ground

white pepper

1 tablespoon finely chopped

fresh tarragon

¼ cup coarsely chopped

flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 sheet puff pastry

1 Place chicken, parsley stalks and lemon

juice in a large saucepan; add enough

water to cover chicken. Bring to boil;

reduce heat. Simmer gently, uncovered,

for 1 hour; remove from heat. When cool

enough, transfer chicken to a plate.

Reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid.

2 Meanwhile, line base and sides of a

lightly greased oval (1.25 litre/5 cup)

ovenproof dish with sour cream pastry;

trim. Prick base with a fork. Cover with

baking paper; refrigerate until ready to bake.

3 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced).

4 Put the chilled pastry case in the oven;

bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven; brush with beaten egg.

Return to oven for a further 5 minutes.

5 Removethefleshfromthechickenand

coarsely chop. Discard skin and bones.

6 Meanwhile, heat butter in a large frying

pan. Add leek, celery and corn; cook,

stirring, until vegetables are soft and any

liquid from corn has evaporated. Stir in

flour. Add reserved stock and cream; stir

over heat until mixture boils and thickens.

Reduce heat and stir in chicken, pepper,

herbs and lemon rind. Remove from heat;

season with sea salt, to taste.

7 Spoon chicken filling into pie case. Brush

the edges of the pastry with egg. Top with

the puff pastry. Decorate with any off-cuts

and brush with egg.

8 Reduce oven temperature to 180°C

(160°C fan-forced). Bake for 45 minutes

or until pastry is golden brown.

Suitable to freeze. Not suitable

to microwave.