Every now and then life calls for a pie. And considering it’s British Pie Week this week (yes, really), what better excuse to indulge. Decadent, Sunday afternoon grub, Saturday night dinner fare or dreamy weeknight supper, this is a pie that benefits a chilly evening, but tastes good any day of the week. Beautifully comforting, the filling is made with chicken and lardons, buckets of green veg and silky (lactose-free) cream, the top, golden brown, gluten-free puff pastry.
If the cream is too much for your liking, you could try subbing in some FODMAP-friendly stock (I’m yet to find a good one in the UK, so any recommendations, please comment below!). I also adore pastry, but making gluten-free puff can be somewhat of a faff. Here I’ve used Jus-Rol™, to very lazily and magnificently top my pie. *Jus Rol pastry hasn’t been certified low FODMAP but most people I know who are on/have followed the diet haven’t had any issues with it. As with many things it’s best to try a small amount first to see how you tolerate it – or if you have any questions or are unsure, to chat with your dietician. You know your body best.
Hot from the oven, plop down in the centre of the table and let everybody help themselves, breaking through the crusty pastry (fave part) and scooping up the filling. Here’s to British Pie Week and some very happy bellies.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
500g chicken breast, or chicken meat, chopped
200g lardons
240g long stemmed broccoli,
2 green peppers, de-seeded and sliced thinly
150g cavolo nero, de-stemmed and chopped
500ml lactose-free single cream
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 small punch parsley, chopped
280g gluten-free puff pastry (I used Jus-Rol™)
1 egg, whisked
Method
Preheat your oven to 220C.
Make your filling. Heat a splash of oil in a pan over a medium heat and add the chicken, cooking until brown. Tumble in the lardons and cook until both chicken and lardons are cooked through (roughly 10 minutes). Remove the meat from the saucepan and place into a bowl. Put the bowl to one side.
Heat another splash of oil in a pan and add the peppers and the long stemmed broccoli. Saute over a low heat for roughly 10 minutes, adding the cavolo nero in the last minute, and cooking until wilted. Return the chicken and lardons to the pan and pour over the cream. Bring the filling mixture to the boil and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. While cooking, roll out your pastry and have it ready to go.
Remove the filling mixture from the heat and add the chopped parsley. Season well, grate in the nutmeg and spoon into a medium sized pie dish. Place the pastry over the top of the pie dish, pinching or folding in the edges to seal. Pierce a couple of slashes in the pastry and brush with the egg. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown, puffed and cooked.
