Ministry Pie

as my first post it seems only correct that the recipe be one that I'm most often asked for. i'm half proud of this one, kind of like getting a sterling grade on a paper you didn't work all that hard on. nonetheless, for Lindsay, Nick, Ashleigh, Alice and all the world

Ministry Pie

The amount of pastry you use will depend on whether you make 2 small pies or one big one- my advice is buy 1 extra roll of pastry: there is nothing worse than trying to get the scraps together to cover the pie- it’s an extra R10 that will save a lot of  stress and make your pie look profesh.(read: professional)(this serves 15 hungry people)

Pre heat the oven 200 C.NB do this first!

Sweat 2 TBsp butter, 3 onions(chopped) and 4 cloves minced/grated garlic over a medium heat (not hot or your onion will go brown- not good for this pie) in the biggest pot you own.

When they are soft add 12 chopped chicken breasts (the size is up to you, i like it chunky because if you chop it up small, it seems like less meat) turn up the heat and stir occasionally. Add 2 Ttsp salt and 1T tsp pepper.

While the chicken cooks, boil the kettle and prep the ‘soup’ in a large bowl.  Mix 2 large packets of Cream of Chicken Soup powder and 1 packet of White Onion Soup powder(or Mushroom Soup- i find the onion tastes less ‘fake’). Read the packets and see how much boiling water it calls for- add only half. Mix it all up (it will be gloopy) and make sure there are no lumps. If you can’t get rid of the lumps, use a whisk or pass the gloopy soupy through a sieve.

Once smooth add the gloopy soupy to your chicken and pour in 1 kg frozen veg (i use 750g of the mix of pea’s, carrot, green beans and sweetcorn, and 250g plain corn- i like corn). a splash of white wine at this stage is a nice touch but not essential.

Now you can wash up the dishes and clean the counters while giving the pot a stir now and then.

Once all the dishes are clean, get your pie dish out and line the inside with the puff pastry, and leave 2 cm hanging over the edge (sometimes the pastry shrinks). Pop it in the oven for about 15 mins- you dont want the pastry to cook totally, so keep an eye on it. It may puff up- dont worry-the filling will soon squash it.

Check that the chicken and veg are cooked properly, and that you are happy with the thickness of the filling- it WILL NOT thicken or cook in the oven, so be aware that the filling  will come out the same as it went in. If it is too runny, mix 2 TBsp corn flour and cold water in a mug, add and stir over the heat. Repeat until it is as thick as you’d like.

Spoon the filling into the pastry case and cover with the rest of the pastry- use a fork or your fingers to squash the raw pastry and cooked pastry edges together. Brush the top with milk and bake for 30-40 mins(till the top looks lovely.)

I always make this the day before, and then just pop in the oven- so thats an option if you’re free the evening before.:)