The Perfect Picnic Poultry Pie – How to Make
for pork pie lovers who don’t love pork
Ingredients
for the filling
- 350g chicken breast in 5-10mm chunks
- 350g turkey sausage meat
- 100g cashews, brined for 30 mins
- 100g lard in 1cm cubes
- Thyme, salt & pepper
- Butter and oil for frying
for the pastry
- 500g shortcrust pastry
Method
Soak the cashews in salted warm water for 30 minutes
Dice the chicken breast and put into a large mixing bowl
Fry the cashews in butter and oil with a little salt and pepper, turning regularly, for about 4-5 minutes until golden
Cover and allow to cool (in the freezer for 30 minutes if necessary) then crush and put into the mixing bowl
Squeeze the sausage meat out of the skins into the mixing bowl
Season the contents of the mixing bowl and add the thyme and the diced lard. Cover and set aside in the fridge.
Make an egg wash – one egg yolk with a splash of water – leave in the fridge until needed
Roll out 40g of pastry until it is 20cm across, place over the end of a foil-covered tin that measures about 6.5cm across, press down folds with water to make them stick, then trim off the lower edge to straighten it before egg washing the pastry and returning to the fridge for 20 minutes for the egg wash to dry.
After 20 minutes, egg wash again and return to the fridge for 20 minutes for the egg wash to dry. Omit this step if you can accept a slightly less well coloured pastry. Re-refrigerate for only 10 minutes if perfection is not required too.
Bake the upturned pastry-covered tin for 15 minutes (on circulating air setting if available) at 180°C
Roll out 30g of pastry until it is about 11cm across and put back in the fridge
After 15 minutes remove the tin from the oven and allow to cool (10 minutes or so) before removing the pastry from the tin. Repair any holes or tears with fresh pastry pressed onto the inside with a little water.
Fill the pastry case with filling, pressing it into the corners while supporting the pastry with a cupped hand.
Wet the edges of the pastry disc from the fridge, lay it over the filled pastry case and press down the wetted edges. Egg wash the fresh pastry and chill for 20 minutes before egg washing for a second time and chilling again.
Once the egg wash has dried bake the pie for 20 minutes or until the core temperature reaches 70-75°C
Allow to cool and either refrigerate, freeze or eat
These quantities made 2 of the above pies, a single 5cm pie, a single 12cm pie and a larger dish-baked pie about 9cm x 18cm x 4cm