Homemade pies are popular and this tasty chicken, mushroom and asparagus pie is easy to make and a perfect one-pot meal for family. Also, no need to the make the puff pastry… just look for the nice buttery ones available at supermarkets.
This pie recipe is one of the seasonal dishes (month of May) from the BBC 2019 Good Food Calendar. I couldn’t find fresh or dried morel mushrooms for the recipe so decided to use a packet of dried mixed forest mushrooms from my store cupboard. You of course could use fresh field mushrooms or a mixture of dried and fresh if you liked, but I was going for my store cupboard conveniences here.
If you manage to find fresh morels, check out the original recipe for this chicken, morel mushroom and asparagus pie and follow the method given, I will link to the original recipe in the footnote of the recipe below. The size of the baking dish/skillet was not given but the instructions mentioned the pastry needs to sit on top of the pie ingredients. So fill your pie dish until almost level with the top, I guess it’s to stop the pastry from sinking into the dish while cooking. I ended up using a few smaller pie dishes as my cast iron skillet was not suitable and making them individually meant nobody could hog all the pastry. You could easily get ahead with this recipe and prepare the pie filling the day before if needed.
I know we are in the throws of summer (well at least in Bahrain) and temperatures vary across the world, thankfully we have air-conditioning and have no problem enjoying a spring themed pie during our summer months. If you fancy another one-pot meal, this braised chicken with tomatoes, potatoes and herbs is another tasty, easy family meal to prepare.
Chicken, Mushroom and Asparagus Pie
Serves 4
Recipe adapted from the BBC Good Food 2019 Calendar
Ingredients:
200ml chicken stock
30g dried mixed mushrooms
25g butter
2 shallots, finely sliced
3 sprigs of thyme, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon plain flour, plus extra for rolling pastry
100ml white wine
200ml creme fraiche
6 boneless and skinless chicken thighs, cut into large chunks
1 bunch of asparagus, remove and discard woody ends, cut stalks into 4cm pieces
1/2 pack of fresh tarragon, leaves roughly chopped
1 block all-butter puff pastry (375g), defrost if you’ve bought frozen
for glaze:
1 egg, beaten
How to make:
Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add the dried mushrooms, soak for about 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the soaked mushroom from the stock and set aside.
Melt the butter in a skillet and gently sauté the shallots until softened, add in the soaked mushrooms thyme and bay leaves , cook for a minute or two.
Next, stir in the flour and cook for about a minute. Pour in the white wine, let sizzle for about 30 seconds, then gently pour in the chicken stock (also used for soaking the mushrooms), followed by the cream fraiche and stir everything together. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, taste and season with sea salt.
Add the chicken to the sauce and cook over gentle for about 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and mix in the asparagus and tarragon. Remove the skillet from the heat and set aside.
Heat the oven to 220C/200Cfan/Gas mark 8.
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to the thickness of a one pound coin, then cut the pastry to fit the pan or dish you are using. The pastry needs to sit on top of the ingredients, use a pie dish if your skillet is too deep. Lay the pastry over the pie mixture, brush with the beaten egg.
Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the pastry has puffed and is deep golden brown. Let pie rest for 5 minutes before serving straight from the pan.
Note: Original recipe link for the Chicken, Morel Mushroom and Asparagus Pie
Food and Tools 
Love the puff pastry topper!
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Used a small heart shaped cutter… happy you noticed 🙂
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That looks quite delicious. I’m a bit like you: cooking seasonal food for some other season in my air-conditioned kitchen and feeling guilty for messing with the poor planet that’s warming up thanks to people like me.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
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Mae, we couldn’t do without air condition in this part of the world, at least during the summer months. But we still try and conserve energy where we can. It was a delicious pie and one I will make again 🙂
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