Jamie Oliver Filo Pastry Chicken Food

SPRING CHICKEN PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5.
• Halve the lemons, quarter the Jersey Royals, then pick and finely chop the tarragon and parsley.
• Put the chicken, unpeeled garlic cloves, lemon and potatoes in a large baking tray, drizzle with oil, season with sea salt and black pepper, then toss together.
• Pop in the oven for 45 minutes, or until golden, crispy and cooked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
• Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan until bubbling. Add the flour and stir for 1 to 2 minutes to form a paste, then slowly pour in the stock, whisking until thickened. Add the mustard, then season.
• Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and reserve the skin and discard any gristle. Shred the meat, discarding the bones.
• Squeeze the garlic from its skins back into the roasting tray and squeeze over all the juice from the lemons and toss well.
• Pour over the thickened stock and add the herbs and watercress. Check the seasoning, then finely chop the chicken skins and sprinkle over the filling.
• Lay out sheets of filo on a clean surface and cut each one in half. Lightly scrunch up and place on top of the pie filling, brushing with a little oil.
• Bake for 25 minutes, or until crispy and golden, then serve with a crisp green salad.

FLAKY PASTRY PESTO CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7.
• Unroll the pastry, cut it in half lengthways, then cut each half widthways into 8 equal strips.
• Flatten the chicken breasts by pounding with your fist until the fat ends are the same thickness as the skinny ends.
• Place them in a roasting tray, season with sea salt and black pepper, spread over the pesto, then lay 4 overlapping strips of pastry over each breast, tucking them under at the edges. Brush with a little olive oil.
• Lightly dress the tomato vines in olive oil, season and put into a second tray. Place the chicken tray on the top shelf of the oven with the tomatoes below, and cook for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the chicken is cooked through.
• Meanwhile, line up the beans, trim off just the stalk ends, then cook in a pan of boiling salted water for 7 minutes, or until tender.
• Remove the chicken to a board with half the tomatoes, squashing the rest in the tray and discarding the vines. Drain and toss in the beans, taste and season to perfection.
• Slice the chicken at an angle and serve on top of the beans, with the whole tomatoes.

CHICKEN & LEEK FILO PIE

Steps:

• Heat a third of the butter in a large saucepan, cook the leeks for 10 mins or until softened, then tip onto a plate and repeat with another third of the butter and the mushrooms. Heat the remaining butter in the same saucepan and, once melted, stir in the flour and cook the sandy paste for 1 min, then stir in the chicken stock a ladleful at a time. Leave on a low heat to simmer for 5 mins, then stir the chicken, leek, mushrooms, cream and mustard into the sauce, add the parsley and season with salt and cracked black pepper. Spoon into a 20cm pie dish and leave to cool.
• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Lay a sheet of filo on a chopping board and brush with olive oil, then place on top of the pie with the corners resting on the sides of the dish, then repeat the process, placing the next sheet slightly off-centre - the idea is to fan the sheets of filo. Brush every layer with oil, and on the last layer sprinkle over salt, thyme leaves and nigella seeds. Press the pastry gently into the edge of the dish. Bake for about 1 hr until the pastry is deep golden, then remove from the oven and serve with buttered cabbage and mashed potato, if you like.

FESTIVE STRUDEL

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/ 350 degrees F/ Gas 4. Lay out 6 sheets of filo pastry on a clean tea towel, overlapping each by an inch or so, so they cover the tea towel.
• Cook's Note: The filo should cover the tea towel completely, with just a little overhang at one of the shorter ends.
• Work quickly so your pastry doesn't dry out and brush some melted butter all over it. Sprinkle over the cinnamon and 2 ounces/ 50 g of the sugar, then crumble over your ginger nuts to add a nice bit of crunch. Carefully layer the rest of the pastry sheets on top and brush again with butter.
• Use your hands to crumble the Christmas pudding into a bowl then grate in the fruit, cores and all. You want to have about the same amount of grated fruit as you've got pudding. Add about 2 tablespoons of sugar, and mix it all together to break up the pudding a bit more. Sprinkle this all over the pastry so it's roughly covered, leaving the overhang clear. Place the chocolate in a row on top of the Christmas pudding, down the short side nearest the overhang.
• Fold the overhang over the chocolate and pinch it up, then lift up your tea towel, and use it to help you carefully roll up your strudel. Tuck the ends under to seal it and transfer to a large nonstick pan. Brush it all over with butter then sprinkle over a little more sugar. Bake in the hot oven for about 40 minutes until crisp, golden and gorgeous looking. It might split a bit and look slightly rustic, but I think that's quite nice. Cook's Note: You could wrap an extra layer of filo round it before cooking if you want it to look a bit neater.
• Once the strudel is cooked, leave to cool, then use a serrated knife to cut the strudel into
• 2-inch/ 5 cm slices. Dust these with icing sugar and serve with ready-made custard from the refrigerator.