CHICKEN AND HAM PIE

Pie: the filling and baking of sweet (fruits, nuts, cheese) or savory (meat, fish, eggs, cheese) ingredients and spices in casings composed of flour, fat and water is an ancient practice. Historians trace pie's initial origins to the Greeks, who are thought to be the originators of the pastry shell. The basic concept of pies and tarts has changed little throughout the ages. Cooking methods (baked or fried in ancient hearths, portable colonial/pioneer Dutch ovens, modern ovens), pastry composition (flat bread, flour/fat/water crusts, puff paste, milles feuilles), and cultural preference (pita, pizza, quiche, shepherd's, lemon meringue, classic apple, chocolate pudding) all figure prominently into the complicated history of this particular genre of food. Some pie-type foods are made for individual consumption. These portable pies: pasties, turnovers, empanadas, pierogi, calzones etc were enjoyed by working classes and sold by street vendors.

Serves 5
60 minutes
429 kcal per serving


Ingredients

• 2 tsp sunflower oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 medium leek, trimmed and cut into thin slices
• 100 ml white wine
• 150 ml water
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 1 kg whole cooked chicken
• 100 g smoked ham, cut into strips about 1,5 cm wide
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 300 g half-fat crème fraiche
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 sheets filo pastry, each about 38 x 30 cm
• 1,5 - 2,5 tsp sunflower oil

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a low heat and add the onion and garlic.
2. Fry gently for 5 minutes until the onion is softened, but not coloured, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the leek and cook for 1 minute more, stirring constantly.
4. Pour over the white wine and 100 ml of the water.
5. Dissolve the stock cube in the pan by squishing it with a wooden spoon.
6. Keep simmering on a high heat and stir constantly until the liquid has reduced by about half, then remove the pan from the heat.
7. Strip off the skin from the chicken and tear the meat off the bones and into bite-sized pieces.
8. Place them in a large bowl, then add the ham.
9. Sprinkle the flour on top and toss lightly together.
10. Add the onion and stock mixture, the rest of the water and the crème fraiche.
11. Season with lots of freshly ground black pepper and stir all the ingredients together until just combined.
12. Spoon into a 1,5 liter pie dish.
13. Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
14. Pile the filo sheeets on the work surface, one on top of the other, and divide into 9 rectangles, cutting through all the layers.
15. Put the oil into a small bowl, then one at a time, brush each pastry rectangle lightly with a little oil and very loosely scrunch it up.
16. Place the scrunched-up filo on top of the filling, putting the pieces close together until the surface of the pie is completely covered.
17. Bake the pie for 30-35 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden brown and the fillling is bubbling.
18. Serve as it is or with some green vegetables.