Chicken and ham tangle pie

This Chicken and Ham Tangle Pie serves fine and is just 429 calories per portion - perfect for a mid-week family dinner!

Chicken and ham tangle pie

Photographer: Andrew Hayes-Watkins

Info

Serves
5
Prep time
25 minutes
Cooking time
30-35 minutes
Calories
429 per serving

Ingredients

For the filling

  • 2 tsp sunflower oil
  • 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 1 medium leek, trimmed and cut into thin slices
  • 100ml white wine
  • 150ml water
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 1kg whole cooked chicken
  • 100g sliced smoked ham
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 300g half-fat crème fraiche
  • freshly ground black pepper

For the pastry

  • 3 sheets filo pastry, each about 38 x 30cm
  • 1½–2½ tsp sunflower oil

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a low heat and add the onion and crushed garlic. Fry gently for 5 minutes until the onion is softened, but not coloured, stirring occasionally. Add the leek and cook for 1 minute more, stirring constantly.

  2. Pour over the white wine and 100ml of the water. Dissolve the stock cube in the pan by squishing it with a wooden spoon. Keep simmering on a high heat and stir constantly until the liquid has reduced by about half, then remove the pan from the heat.

  3. Strip off the skin from the chicken and tear the meat off the bones and into bite-sized pieces. Place them in a large bowl. Cut the ham into strips about 1.5cm wide and add them to the bowl. Sprinkle the flour on top and toss lightly together.

  4. Add the onion and stock mixture, the rest of the water and the crème fraiche. Season with lots of freshly ground black pepper and stir all the ingredients together until just combined. Spoon into a 1.5-litre pie dish. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6.

  5. Pile the filo sheets on the work surface, one on top of the other, and divide into 9 rectangles, cutting through all the layers. Put the oil into a small bowl.

  6. One at a time, brush each pastry rectangle lightly with a little oil and very loosely scrunch it up. You’ll need to just dip the tip of the pastry brush in the oil to make sure the oil lasts for all the pastry. Place the scrunched-up filo on top of the filling, putting the pieces close together until the surface of the pie is completely covered.

  7. Bake the pie for 30–35 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Serve with some green vegetables – no need to add extra potatoes or rice.