Nothing beats a homemade pie, fresh out of the oven. You can fill it with different ingredients; freeze and warm later. These spiced-up individual Moroccan chicken pies hit the spot and are easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (50g) plain flour, plus extra to dust
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 750g chicken breast fillets, cut into 2.5cm pieces
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- A generous pinch of saffron threads
- 2/3 cup (100g) dried apricots, roughly chopped
- 100g green olives, pitted, sliced
- 1 1/2 cups (375ml) chicken stock
- 1 tsp preserved lemon*, flesh and white pith removed, rind finely chopped, or fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbs chopped coriander leaf and stalk
- 375g block puff pastry
- 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Combine the dry ingredients; flour, cinnamon and turmeric in a bowl, then add salt and pepper. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Set aside.
In a pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for 5-6 minutes until soft.
Increase the heat to high, add chicken and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until chicken is lightly browned.
Stir in saffron, apricot, olives, stock and preserved lemon or lemon juice, then simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat, stir through coriander and season.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry until 5mm thick. Place four 1-cup (250ml) ovenproof dishes or ramekins upside-down on the pastry sheet and cut out four pastry rounds, allowing a 1cm border.
Divide the pie filling among the dishes and cool slightly, then cover each with a pastry round, pressing the rim to seal. Make a slit in the top with a sharp knife and brush the pie tops with egg.
Bake pies for 35 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly, then voila.
Picture: Freepik
Sources: delicious.com