While lean chicken breast makes a great salad, I wouldn’t recommend it for baking a pie. The more the breast cooks, the more it dries out, absorbing all the yummy juices; in effect, it will dry out the entire contents of the pie. I also believe the breast is the only reason why chicken has a reputation for being bland; chicken thighs and drumsticks can stand up to some serious flavours like garlic, rosemary, thyme and lemon.
prep: 3 hours | serves: 6
for the filling
40 ml olive oil
8 chicken thighs
8 chicken drumsticks
2 garlic cloves, crushed
150 ml Worcestershire sauce
juice of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper
30 ml olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
250 g streaky bacon, loosely cut into squares
for the sour cream dough
280 g (500 ml) cake flour
230 g (250 ml) soft butter, diced
125 ml sour cream
for the filling
Preheat the oven to 180 ÅãC. Drizzle 40 ml olive oil onto the
base of an oven dish. Place the chicken pieces in the dish and add the garlic, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper before covering the dish with foil and placing it in the oven.
Cook for 1 hour. Remove the foil and place the chicken back in the oven. Cook for another 45 minutes. Once cooked and cooled to room temperature, remove the meat from the bones, returning it to the juices left in the oven dish.
Heat the 30 ml olive oil in a saucepan and add the onion. Fry until soft. Then add the bacon, frying it until slightly crispy. Add the fried onion and bacon to the chicken and mix well. Spoon the filling into an oven dish.
for the sour cream dough
Preheat the oven to 180 ÅãC. Meanwhile, blend all the ingredients together in a food processor until a dough forms. If the consistency throws you off your game, keep it together: it’s supposed to be soft.
Spoon the dough onto a floured surface, pressing it flat with your hands. Then place it carefully over the filling. If the pastry breaks, go with the flow. Once your filling is covered with the dough, brush it with the beaten egg. Place the pie in the oven and bake for 40 – 45 minutes.
