Chicken and Mushroom Puff Pastry Pie

Our holidays are over and comfort food is on the menu today, great to come home to, especially now that the clocks have gone back.   We'll eat it with some piping hot veg and creamy mashed potato.  Almost as good as a hug and a snuggle on the sofa.

Ingredients for 4 persons

25g butter

1 banana shallot, or a small onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely sliced

4 large boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1cm/½in thick slices

150g chestnut or ordinary white mushrooms, cut into quarters

50ml dry sherry

150ml chicken stock

2 tbsp chopped tarragon leaves

200ml double cream

1 free-range egg yolks, lightly beaten

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

500g pack puff pastry fresh or defrosted from frozen.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Heat a large ovenproof frying pan until hot, add the butter and when the butter is foaming, add, the shallot and garlic and fry for a minute. Add the chicken and fry until just coloured.

Add the mushrooms and fry over a high heat for 2-3 minutes, or until just softened. Add the sherry and flame it by tipping the pan towards the flame or carefully lighting using cooks' matches. Or just let the alcohol cook out for a couple of minutes. 

Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer, then add the tarragon and cream and simmer for five minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and then set aside to cool.

Roll out the pastry until it is 5cm/2in wider than an oven proof dish and about 4-5mm thick. Brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg and then lay the pastry over the top of the pie filling and crimp at the edges. Trim away any excess pastry and brush the top of the pie with the remaining egg. If you have time, use any pastry trimmings to make leaves to decorate the top of the pie.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and golden-brown and the filling bubbling. 

Tuck in!