How to Cook Basque Chicken Pie

Serves: 4-5

Preparation time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 45 mins

Ingredients needed to make Basque Chicken Pie:

• 4 boneless chicken thighs, skinned and chopped into bite-sized chunks
• 5 oz chorizo sausage, peeled and sliced
• 2 onions, chopped into 12 wedges
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 red bell pepper, halved, seeded and sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, halves, seeded and sliced
• 4 ripe tomatoes, skinned and coarsely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tsp flaked sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil

For the pastry:

• 8 oz all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 3 oz unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 medium egg yolks
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 5 tbsp cold water
• ½ tsp sea salt

Cooking instructions for Basque Chicken Pie:

• Place the chicken chunks in a bowl and add the salt, paprika and lots of black pepper over them.
• Rub them all over the chicken pieces and keep it aside until required.
• Heat oil in a large skillet and add the onions.
• Stir fry the onions for a couple of minutes or until they soften and add the bell peppers, thyme as well as the bay leaves.
• Saute them further for about 3 minutes, while stirring often and add the seasoned chicken to it, along with the residual seasonings.
• Continue to saute the mixture for another 3 minutes, flipping the chickem often, until it begins to brown.
• Stir in the garlic as well as the chorizo slices and brown them further for a couple of minutes more.
• Throw in the tomatoes and continue to cook, while stirring frequently,  for about 5 minutes or until they turn succulent and soft.
• Shift the liquid to one side of the pan, by tilting it slightly and dust the flour over the contents of the pan.
• Stir them briskly and return the pan to its previous positions.
• Stir all of them together until the sauce is free of any lumps and adjust the seasonings if required.
• Cook for another minutes or until the sauce becomes considerably thick and remove it from heat.
• Tip the contents of the pan into a 10’’ x 12’’ baking dish and set aside to cool.
• Sift the flour and baking powder together and add the salt, egg yolk as well as butter to them.
• Blend them together in a food processor to form a mixture with crumb-like texture and pour in water in a steady stream while it is still processed.
• Blend them together into a soft dough and place it on a lightly floured working surface.
• Knead the dough gently and then roll it out into a rectangle, large enough to fit in the pan.
• Cover the filling with this pastry sheet and trim off the edges hanging outside.
• Paint the surface with beaten egg for an added glaze and bake in the oven for half an hour.
• Once filling is heated through and the pastry turns golden brown, remove from oven and serve.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Last Updated on January 10, 2013 by