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This is a 'picnic' version of chicken and stuffing pie. Like a pork pie, it's intended to be eaten cold. There's no sauce to dribble everywhere, but we have used a little trick to keep the chicken moist.
Marinade the Chicken
Melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium heat. Stir in the other ingredients, bring to the boil, remove from heat and allow to cool. When it is cool, fill a syringe/flavour injector with the liquid, plunge the nozzle into a chicken breast and inject the liquid. You'll want to do this two or three times into each chicken breast, and it's a good idea to do this in a plastic bag because marinade will leak out. When done, place the bag of chicken breasts and any spare marinade in the fridge for an hour or so.
Make the Pastry
This is hot water pastry, the kind used to make pork pies. Lard is the best option for fat but if you can't get that you could substitute beef dripping/tallow, shortening or even butter. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. In a small saucepan, melt the fat into the water. Pour half of the mixture into the bowl and mix it into the flour. Then add the remaining liquid and mix that in. Wrap the dough in plastic film and leave to cool.
Make the Stuffing
Follow the manufacturer's instructions - generally it involves adding boiling water to the packet mix. I like to mix in a blob of butter for a more luxurious finish. Allow to cool.
Assemble the Pies
Sprinkle some flour on the worktop. Take a chunk of dough and roll it into a disc a little bigger than your tin - or tins. I used two springform tins, 12 cm (5 inch) diameter. Cut a hole in the centre of the disc with the narrow end of a funnel. Set the disc aside - this will be the lid. Take a larger chunk of dough, roll it out and gently press it down into the tin, being careful not to crease it, fold it, or make any holes. Trim off any excess but leave a bit of a margin to fix the lid to.
Slice each chicken breast horizontally. Place slices of chicken into the pie case in a single layer. Trim off any edge pieces that don't fit. Layer stuffing over the chicken as evenly as you can, then make another layer of chicken and another layer of stuffing. Moisten the rim of the pastry case with water and place a pastry lid on it. Squeeze the lid and the base together and crimp the edge. Paint the pie lid with eggwash - an egg beaten with a little milk.
Bake!
Heat your fan/convection oven or airfryer to 180°C (356°F) or 200°C (392°F) for a conventional oven, gas 6. Place the pie(s) in and bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin, and cool completely before slicing and eating.
HOT WATER PASTRY 300 grams plain (all-purpose) flour 150 grams lard 150 ml water 1 tsp salt FILLING 500 grams chicken breast 170 grams sage & onion stuffing mix MARINADE 125 ml chicken stock 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp butter half a tsp salt half a tsp white pepper