Famous last words...why I would say that on a hot almost summers day on a Sunday I will never know...
Now while they don't taste as good as the ones that you buy, they are a damn sight better for you.
I forgot to take a picture of the mixing and things like that but this pie is literally SO straight forward you won't need it.
Bought - Whole BBQ chicken (no stuffing), button mushrooms, Quinoa, Cream, Pampas shortcrust pastry reduced fat, baby spinach leaves, kale or rocket, chicken stock cube, olive oil spray.
Notes - I only had sour cream in my fridge so I used that but I actually prefer normal low fat cream, it doesn't make that much of a difference but just thought I would mention it. Quinoa is a grain that I buy from the health food section of Woolworths. They come in red, black and a blond colour. It doesn't matter which one you choose, I have used the blond version in this.
Also you can use any kind of mushroom you like, they all work great.
The first thing you need to do is put your oven onto about 160C my oven is fan forced so if your oven is not I would put it onto 180.
Next before you start any of your cooking you will need to get out 2 sheets of frozen pastry and put them aside to thaw.
While your oven is warming up get your quinoa on the stove. All you need is 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water. Add 1 chicken stock cube to the water and bring it to the boil. This is so easy to do...just let it boil away happily until all of the water has disappeared then your quinoa is done! If you are not sure and need to check it, get a small spoonful and taste it. If it is still crunchy, add some more water and let it boil some more until it is soft but not mushy. Stir it occasionally.
For the mushrooms get a large fry pan, spray with olive oil spray and throw your mushrooms in. I used about 2 1/2 cups of chopped mushrooms. Add salt and pepper as they are cooking just to taste. When they are about half way done add your spinach, kale or rocket (just a generous handful) Cook the mushies and spinach until they go nice and soft and the mushrooms get a little colour, turn the heat off and add a glug of cream stirring it through. Not to much as you don't want them swimming in it, I would say its a bout half a cup.
While your mushrooms are cooking pull apart your BBQ chicken. The chicken I used was small so I threw in pretty much all of it and put it aside.
Your qinoa should be done shortly and once that is done, pour the quinoa straight into the pan with the mushrooms, cream and spinach. Get your chicken and add that into the pan also and stir through so all ingredients are well combined.
Once that is done get a pie dish or large muffin tin, pretty much whatever you have at home. I used 2 dip dishes for my 2 pies. They are about 6cm deep and 9 cm wide and I had enough for 2.
Make sure to give your dish a good spray of olive oil to make it easy to get your pie out after it has been cooked.
Line these with your pastry. I find it easy to cut the pastry sheets in half, lay half in and let the over hang come over the top to make the top part of the pie and basically wrap it up like a bundle but do this however you like, you just need to make sure that all the sides and top parts of the pastry meet and there are no holes.
Get your chicken and quinoa mixture and spoon it into the dish and onto the pastry, make sure that you squash it down so there is no air pockets. Put as much in your dish as you can.
Add your pastry top or wrap it up, however you choose but just make sure there are no gaps. This is the main reason why I choose to wrap it up with the pastry overhang, its just easier. Add a small hole in the top of the pie to let the steam escape.
Spray the top of your pie with some more olive oil and throw into the oven!
I never set a timer but just keep checking it. It takes around 15 - 20 minutes, then EAT!
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