cheap family recipes
feed a family of 4 for less than £200 a month
Chicken & Onion Pie
A delicious pie that can also be steamed as a pudding
chicken & onion pie
Filling
- 200 g chicken ((approximately 1/4 of the meat from a 1.25kg chicken) )
- 1 orange (80g)
- 320 g onions (chopped)
- 50 g flour
- 2 ladelfulls stock from poaching the chicken
- 1 tsp garlic
- 1 tsp mustard
- salt and pepper
Pastry
- 300 g flour
- 75 g oil
- pinch salt
Combine the flour and a little stock in a mug and blend to a smooth paste. Cook the onions in a little stock until softened, then add your flour paste, seasonings and the chicken (chopped finely), stir the sauce until the chicken falls apart into the liquid in tender shreds.
You are aiming for a thickish sauce the consistency of natural yoghurt, so add your stock until it forms this consistency.
Meanwhile, make the pastry. Put flour, oil and salt in a mixing bowl and mix with enough cold water to bring the pastry dough away from the sides of the mixing bowl (roughly 90 ml). Mix together, stretch 2/3rds round the base and sides of your pyrex flat-bottomed dish pressing out with your finger tips, trying not to let any areas go thinner than half a centimeter.
Place your chicken and onion mix inside, stretch the remaining third over the top, sealing the lid to the edges with a wet finger. If you have too much filling, great, keep it to make a gravy to serve with the pie.
Bake at gas mark 4 for approx 30-35 min until gently golden. Or steam in a slow cooker for 3-4 hours.
If you make more than one pie, cool the pie thoroughly and then freeze covered for up to two months.
Serve with 80g carrots and 200g potato per person.
The salt value excludes any you have added yourself, as each family's tastes will differ
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