Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Crumble Pie

Want to make a savoury pie but don’t enjoy eating pastry? Crumble Pie is the answer.

I know that the crumble part of this pie is basically made out of most of the ingredients of pastry. However, there is something about this that makes it seem much more versatile. I added parmesan and parsley to my crumble but you could flavour it anyway you like to match with your pie filling. And of course it is much easier to make than pastry (for those of you who don’t like to buy ready-made). You might even be able to substitute gluten-free flour.

The idea for this pie actually came from a meal that I ate at a restaurant in the UK a couple of weeks ago. It was a chain restaurant and therefore I didn’t think I would be very successful if I tried to get the recipe from the chef….so I made up my own version. It’s close enough 🙂

If you have any mini ovenproof dishes then this recipe would also make very nice individual pot pies. I’m not even that sure why I made my pie in such a large dish – it certainly doesn’t make taking decent photos very easy.

Ingredients – serves 4:

Filling:

• 500g/1 lb chicken thigh fillets, chopped into bite-sized chunks
• 2 heaped dessertspoons plain (all purpose) flour
• a little salt and black pepper, to season
• 1 tbsp oil, either vegetable or olive
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 150g/5 oz bacon, diced
• 8-10 medium button mushrooms, diced
• 1 and 1/2 cups salt-reduced chicken stock
• 200ml/7 oz light sour cream
• 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

Crumble:

• 1 heaped cup plain (all purpose) flour
• 90g/3 oz cold butter, diced into small pieces
• 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan, plus extra to top
• black pepper, to season
• handful fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped (I used flat leaf but curly is fine too)

Method:

• Put the diced chicken, flour and seasonings into a large plastic food bag and toss to thoroughly coat the chicken.
• Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan and then brown the chicken pieces, over a medium-high heat in two or three batches, until golden all over. Remove the chicken to a plate.
• Now add the onion to the pan and cook over a medium heat until just softened.
• Add the bacon to the pan and stir, then cook for a 2-3 minutes.
• Toss in the mushrooms, cook for 2 minutes and then put the chicken back into the pan.
• Pour in the chicken stock, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in the sour cream and the mustard and then remove from the heat.
• Heat your oven to 200C/180C fan forced/390F and line a baking tray with a sheet of baking paper.
• Put the flour for the crumble in a medium bowl and then use your fingertips to rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Stir in the parmesan and a give it a good season with black pepper.
• Spread the crumble mixture over the prepared baking tray, then cook for 10 minutes or until just starting to turn golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a minute.
• Put the chicken mixture into a large ovenproof dish (or four individual pots if you prefer).
• Mix the chopped parsley into the crumble and then spread over the top of the chicken mixture.
• Cook the pie for 15 minutes.
• Sprinkle the additional parmesan over the top of the pie, plus a little more pepper if you like, then cook for another 10 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
• Remove the pie from the oven and leave to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.
• Enjoy!