Wild Mushroom & Chicken Pie Recipe

There’s nothing better than coming in from a day of hunting mushrooms, prepping the ingredients, popping in this pie, warming up in the bath & then coming down to a piping hot wild mushroom & chicken pie.

I must admit, it always tastes better when you’ve picked the mushrooms yourself (even if it doesn’t, it does because you know where they’ve come from and that they’re fresh from that day)

Some of the more tough mushroom varieties work really well in this recipe also, stems & stalks chopped & diced will soften up when cooking in the pie.

Ingredients

• 400g shortcrust pastry, beaten egg to glaze
• 20g dried wild mushrooms
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 2 chicken thighs skinned, boned and cut into 1.5cm square
• 2 large chicken breasts cut into 1.5cm pieces  (Or just a chicken)
• 250g pied bleu, black trompette & winter chanterelles chopped (or the mushrooms found on that days forage)
• 3tbsp masala wine or sherry
• 25g plain flour
• 2 tbsp double cream
• Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley finely chopped

Method

1. Place the dried wild mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water (250ml) and leave to soak for 20 minutes.  Take the mushrooms out with a serrated spoon and chop finely.  Take 200ml of mushroom stock and put to one side.  Leave the remaining stock as most of the grit will remain at the bottom.
2. Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan and cook down the onions until they are golden and soft. Add in the garlic, chicken and fresh chopped wild mushrooms and cook at a high temperature for 6 minutes moving around regularly.
3. Add the masala or sherry and mix through for a minute.
4. Now reduce the temperature to medium heat and stir in the flour.
5. Add the drained and finely chopped wild mushrooms and the 200ml of the mushroom stick.  Simmer for 5 minutes before adding the cream.
6. Simmer for 5 minutes and it will thicken and then set aside to cool.
7. Turn your oven on to preheat to 180 degrees
8. Roll out two-thirds of the pastry to fit a 20cm cake or pie tin & use it to line the base and sides of the tin
9. Scoop in the cooled filling
10. Roll out the remaining pastry and place over the top on the filling until it overlaps the pastry of the sides. Use a fork to crimp the edges together and cut off any excess pastry.
11. Score about 3 lines in the top (my dad likes to cut a mushroom shape out of the remaining pastry and pops it on top – I always sigh but it does actually look really good when it’s done, but don’t tell him that)
12. Brush the lid with a little beaten egg to glaze it up nicely in the oven
13. Place it in the preheated oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until it starts browning a little.
14. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes, slice it up and enjoy with whatever side you like (I often have it with sauteed potatoes and wilted nettles drizzled with some lemon juice)