• A chicken and mushroom pie with a difference.

    How to make choux dough

    Recipe by Christine Capendale

    Photograph and styling by Hein van Tonder

    Choux chicken and mushroom pie

    Serves: 6
    Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins

    Ingredients

    • 30g butter
    • 2 leeks, thinly sliced
    • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    • 1 x 250g punnet Portabellini mushrooms, sliced
    • 2 tbsp olive oil
    • 600g skinless chicken breasts, diced
    • 40g cake flour
    • 150ml chicken stock
    • 150ml full-cream milk/fresh cream
    • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
    • 15g (¼ cup) chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley + extra, to garnish
    • 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme/chives + extra, to garnish
    • 125g strong Cheddar/Gruyère
    • 1 x batch choux dough

    Instructions

    1

    Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease a large, oval ovenproof pie dish. Set aside until needed.

    2

    Melt the butter in a medium saucepan placed over medium heat. Add the leeks and sauté until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Season to taste. Set aside until needed.

    3

    Add the mushrooms to the still-warm saucepan and sauté until soft, about10 minutes. Season to taste, then add to the leeks.

    4

    Heat the olive oil in the still-warm saucepan, then add the chicken pieces. Fry until they start to brown, 10 – 15 minutes. Season to taste. Add the mushroom and leek mixture to the saucepan with the chicken and cook until heated through.

    5

    Remove from heat, then sprinkle the flour over. Mix until everything is coated evenly. Add the chicken stock and milk/cream. Stir until all lumps are removed. Return to the stove and cook over medium heat until the mixture has thickened slightly, 5 – 10 minutes.

    6

    Add the Dijon mustard, flat-leaf parsley, thyme/chives and ½ the Cheddar/Gruyère. Mix until well combined, then set aside until completely cooled.

    7

    Add the remaining ½ of the cheese to the choux dough and mix until incorporated well. Spoon the cheesy choux dough into a large piping bag fitted with a closed star nozzle.

    8

    Fill the pie dish with the chicken mixture. Pipe golf ball-sized dollops of the cheesy choux dough on top. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180°C and continue to bake until the choux pastry is golden and crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven.

    9

    Serve the pie warm, garnished with the fresh herbs.

    Imka Webb
    Author

    Imka Webb is a freelance digital marketing expert and the digital editor of Food & Home Entertaining magazine.  www.imkawebb.com