If you’ve planned your day’s calories accordingly, and you’ve allowed enough calories for the evening meal so that you can have pie, then you deserve to have proper pie! With real puff pastry! And a creamy filling! There’s no reason you can’t have a real, comforting, chicken pot pie if you’re on a calorie controlled diet. I’d have this meal when I was on my 1200 calorie plan and still lost weight, so you can too. It’s also good to prepare and freeze before baking so that you have a go-to meal in the freezer when necessary.

This is a great pie to make from sunday roast leftovers, but if I don’t have leftovers, I’ll sometimes buy a ready-cooked rotisserie chicken, or even roast some chicken breasts and use them in the pie – it’s worth it!

I use shop-bought puff pastry, the real stuff, and not the “light” version because a) I can’t get it where I live, b) the reviews aren’t great, and c) by using this recipe, you can have the real stuff as part of a calorie controlled meal plan, so why not?!  And, whilst filo-pastry-topped pie is absolutely a valid alternative, it is not an approved choice from my family of pastry-lovers 😉

Start by roughly cutting the cooked chicken into bite sized chunks, varying dimensions with some shredded bits makes for a great texture in the finished pie – you don’t want it to all be uniform and boring.  Clean and quarter the mushrooms, finely chop the onions and measure out the peas.  

In a non-stick saucepan on a medium-low heat, melt the margarine and add the chopped onions. Gently cook the onions, stirring often so they don’t brown, for about 5 minutes or until they become soft and translucent.  Add the flour to the pot and stir well. Continue to cook on a medium heat, stirring constantly, to cook the flour but do not allow it to brown.  

Once the mixture is dry, and the flour has had a chance to cook, remove the pot from the heat.  Pour in a little milk and blend well to work out any lumps of flour. You may wish to switch to a whisk for this part of the process.  Continue adding the milk a little at a time and blend it well. It won’t be smooth because of the onions, but you just need to make sure no lumps of flour remain unblended.  

Once all the milk is incorporated, return the pot to a medium-low heat and stir while it heats up and thickens. Be patient, it will thicken!  Before it’s too thick, season the sauce well with plenty of salt and pepper to taste. Add the dried oregano and continue stirring until the sauce is very thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon (see photos).

Now add the chicken, mushrooms and peas and stir well to distribute all the fillings evenly.  Transfer the chicken mixture to your baking dish(es)… when I was making this batch, I made a 4-serving dish for us, and a 2-serving dish for our friends who’ve just had a baby – all they needed to do was chuck it in the oven!

The final thing to do is roll out the puff pastry and lay it on top of the filling, pressing the edges to the dish so the filling doesn’t ooze out while it’s baking.  You can decorate with any trimmings if you wish (apologies for my not very creative decoration attempts here!). You could very lightly score the top of the pastry with diagonal lines to give it a bit of interest. Cut a small hole or two in the top to allow steam to escape during baking. Brush the top with a little beaten egg if you have some, it will give it a nice shine and crispness, but isn’t essential if you don’t want to waste a whole egg just for this – a brush with some milk will do.

Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake in the centre of the oven at 200C / 400F / Gas 6 (or as directed by the puff pastry package instructions) until the pastry is puffed and golden, probably about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand for a couple of minutes before serving.

Recipe: Creamy Chicken & Mushroom Pie 531 cals

This quantity serves 6

You will need an oven proof dish measuring approx 23cm x 35cm (for 6 ppl) or you could use a square dish for 4 plus a smaller rectangle for 2.

Ingredients:

• 400g cooked chicken
• 225g (8oz) white mushrooms
• 200g (7oz) frozen peas
• 200g (7oz / 2 medium) onions
• 60g Light Margarine
• 2tbsp plain flour
• 1 ¾ cups (400 ml) skimmed milk
• 1 cup (230ml) semi-skimmed milk
• Salt & Pepper
• ¼ tsp Dried oregano
• 1 packet frozen puff pastry (approx 400g)
• ½ small egg

Method:

• Cut up the cooked chicken 
• Finely chop the onions
• Clean and quarter the mushrooms
• Weigh out the peas (not necessary to defrost them)
• In a non-stick saucepan on a medium-low heat, melt the margarine and add the onions. Gently cook the onions, stirring often so they don’t brown, for about 5 minutes or until they become soft and translucent.
• Add the flour to the pot and stir well. Continue to cook on a medium heat, stirring constantly, to cook the flour but do not allow it to brown.
• Once the mixture is dry, and the flour has had a chance to cook, remove the pot from the heat.
• Pour in a little milk and blend well to work out any lumps of flour. You may wish to switch to a whisk for this part of the process.
• Continue adding the milk a little at a time and blend it well. It won’t be smooth because of the onions, but you just need to make sure no lumps of flour remain unblended.
• Once all the milk is incorporated, return the pot to a medium-low heat and stir while it heats up and thickens. Be patient, it will thicken!
• Before it’s too thick, season the sauce well with plenty of salt and pepper to taste. Add the dried oregano and continue stirring until the sauce is very thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon (see photos)
• Now add the chicken, mushrooms and peas and stir well to distribute all the fillings evenly.
• Transfer the chicken mixture to your baking dish(es)
• Roll out the puff pastry and lay it on top of the filling, trim the edges and use trimmings to decorate the top.
• Brush with a little beaten egg, or milk, and bake on a baking sheet in the centre of the oven at 200C / 400F / Gas 6 for approximately 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling at the edges.