Boyfriend Approved Smoky Chicken & Bacon Pie Recipe!

Right! As promised here is my own recipe for a great smoky chicken and bacon pie! Perfect for rainy days when you need a bit of comfort food or a great alternative when preparing food for a group of people.

Yes this recipe is slightly longer and will take the best part of an afternoon to make, but the results are well worth it!

I can make this pie last 2 days which is a great mid-week break from cooking, I simply use half the pie one night served with roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, the next night I will reheat the leftovers to have with chips :)

 

Don’t have any short crust pastry? Click here for a simple recipe!

Things you will need:

-          2 Chicken breasts cut into bite size cubes

-          2-3 rashers of smoky bacon chopped up into little bits

-          1 Onion diced

-          1 carrot chopped up into little bits

-          1 garlic clove finely diced

-          2 handfuls of frozen peas

-          1 litre of chicken stock

-          Salt, pepper and smoked paprika

-          3 tablespoons of flour

-          Short crust pastry

-          1 egg 

Step 1: Start off by combining 2 tablespoons of flour, a pinch of salt, pepper and a good shake of smoked paprika in a large bowl, mix well and tip all of your cubed chicken into the flour, stir until all the chicken is coated in a light layer of the mix and tip out onto a chopping board and put to one side.

Step 2: Chop up all remaining ingredients, make the stock and set to one side.

Step 3: Heat a little oil in a large frying pan on medium heat and tip in the entire flour coated chicken batch, stir frequently to cook all sides evenly, when the pieces begin to brown then add in the bacon, onions, garlic and carrots.

Step 4: Cook the contents of the pan for 5 minutes until the onions have become translucent and the bacon is cooked, add in a pinch of pepper, salt and smoked paprika to the mix and stir.

Step 5: Gently pour in ¾ of the chicken stock and stir the contents until thoroughly combined, leave to bubble away on a low heat for 5-10 minutes then add the peas.

Step 6: Take the remaining stock and add in 1 tablespoon of flour, whisk to combine and get rid of any lumps and pour into the pan, this will help to thicken the sauce, leave to cook for 5 minutes before taking off the heat and putting to one side.

Step 7: Take your chilled short crust pastry and dust your work surface with flour, use a rolling pin to roll out the pastry until it is a good couple of inches bigger than your pie dish on all sides, gently lift the pastry into the dish and press down around the edges, run a sharp knife around the edges to cut off the extra pastry, put the extra to one side for later use.

Step 8: At this point turn your oven on to 150C.

Step 9: Once your mixture has completely cooled down (this is very important it must be cool!), tip it into the pie case filling it generously, level it out with the back of a spoon or spatula.

Step 10: Roll out your remaining pastry leftovers to form a rough circle big enough to cover the top of the pie, beat an egg and brush this around the edges of the dish to act as glue for the lid.

Step 11: Transfer the circle of pastry to the top of the pie to create the lid, use your thumb or a fork to press the two layers of pastry together sealing them, brush the top of the pie with the remaining egg to give it a nice golden colour while cooking, finish off by cutting a little X into the centre of the lid to allow steam to escape.

Step 12: Bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes or until the top is a golden colour, remove and allow 10 minutes for the pie to cool before cutting generous slices.

And there we go! one simple yet very tasty chicken and bacon pie even my other half will eat! Please feel free to share any comments below or tell me your favourite pie recipes!