This is my son's all-time favourite and one way of getting him to eat and enjoy his veggies. This pie is easy to prepare and you don’t even need a pie-dish; any regular baking pan will work. This pie provides a well-balanced and satisfying meal, can also be served as a snack and is the perfect meal for my son’s lunch kit. My boyfriend thinks it should be called a ‘pastie’ instead of a ‘pie’, but that’s another matter, and he certainly never refuses one (or two). Ingredients can be substituted and you can exclude the meat if you are vegetarian - make it your own.
Recipe
Makes about 12 pies
Ingredients for the Pie Crust:
- 1½ cups self-rising flour
- 1½ cups whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup wheat germ
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ cup low fat margarine
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Cold water
To make the Pie Crust:
- Mix the self-rising flour, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, salt and sugar in a bowl.
- Add the margarine and mix until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea sized pieces of margarine.
- Add cold water a little at a time until the mixture just begins to clump together.
- Knead until smooth.
- Cover the dough in the bowl and keep in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Ingredients for the Filling:
- ¾ lbs seasoned diced/ minced chicken (the chicken can be seasoned BBQ style, jerk style or you can even use leftover cooked chicken)
- Carrots (1 large), sweet peppers (4), celery, fine-leaf thyme and onions – all chopped
- Sweet corn (¾ cup)
- Tomato Sauce (ketchup/ BBQ sauce is good as well)
- ¼ tea spoon Salt
- ¼ tea spoon Chinese spice
- Cheese to your taste as topping - grated
To make the Filling:
- Preheat a frying pan and add oil of your choice.
- Add the diced chicken and let it fry for about 3 mins.
- Add the tomato sauce (or ketchup/ BBQ sauce) and let it cook for about another 3 mins.
- Add the vegetables, starting with the hardest vegetables first. Cook for about 3 mins adding the softer vegetables later so that they will all be done at the same time. Do not bother to cook the vegetables fully because they will soon be baked as well.
- Add salt and Chinese spice towards the end.
Making the Pies:
- Divide the dough into 12 equal lumps. With a rolling pin roll one at a time into a circle about 5 inches in diameter.
- Spread one spoonful of filling onto half of the crust.
- Sprinkle some cheese over the filling if desired.
- Fold the other half of the crust over to touch the ends.
- Use a table fork to press the edges together and punch small holes on the top.
- Place on a baking pan and do the same for the rest.
- Preheat the oven to 150 degrees and bake for about ¾ hour
