Cheeky Chicken Pie

A classic homely dish which your baby and toddlers will love. Great for using up cooked chicken too. Chicken breasts can tend to be a little chewy for babies and toddlers, so this is a generally a great chicken recipe for little ones. This is a cheeky chicken pie as it has a little vermicelli thrown in – something my mother-in-law used to do, and as kids love spaghetti, has proven to be a bit of a hit with the kids. Instead of pastry on top, you can use mashed potato, but, if you’re preparing the dish for the whole family, you can of course use puff pastry. This dish can be frozen and if you’re doing individual portions, use foil trays.

Ingredients

25g/2oz butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
50g button mushrooms
400g/14oz cooked chicken, shredded
225g/8oz puff or flaky pastry (ready-made is fine) or 400g/14oz potatoes (for mashed potatoes)
1 egg, beaten (if you are using pastry)

For the sauce

25g/1oz butter
25g/1oz flour
250-300ml/9-10fl oz chicken stock or water
1 portion of vermicelli, scrunched
Herbs (sage, oregano, thyme, rosemary or tarragon all go well with chicken – adding herbs is not an exact science so go with what you’ve got and experiment!)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/Gas 7.
If you are topping your pie with mashed potatoes peel the potatoes, quarter and then pop in a saucepan and add enough cold water to cover the potatoes.
Partly cover the saucepan and bring to the boil.
Lower the heat to medium and cook until the potatoes are soft, usually about 20 to 30minutes.
Meanwhile, wipe the mushrooms and cut into quarters.
Finely chop the onion and sauté onion and mushrooms in the 25g butter for 2-3 minutes, then set aside.
For the sauce, melt the 25g/1oz butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook on a low heat for about 1min then slowly add the stock and cook gently, stirring continuously until the sauce has thickened.
Break/scrunch the vermicelli into the sauce and cook for approx 1 min (the vermicelli will cook in the sauce when you put the pie in the oven) and then add the herbs.
Turn off the heat and add the chicken, mushrooms and onions to the sauce.
If using pastry, grease a pie dish and spoon in the chicken and mushroom mixture.
Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface, to a thickness of about 0.25in/1cm. Place the pastry over the filling and carefully trim the edges.
Use the trimmings to make cut-out shapes to decorate the surface of the pie.
Cut a couple of air holes with a knife to allow the steam to escape. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg.
If you are topping your pie with mash, drain the water out of the saucepan, add a tblsp butter and milk depending on the consistency you like your mash (approx ¼ to ½ cup of milk) and mash!
If you are doing individual pie portions, spoon the chicken and mushroom mixture into your foil trays and cover with mash.
Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
Serve with steamed vegetables.