Serves 6
This chicken pie is fab. I’ve adapted it from a Greek recipe by buying a pre-roasted chicken. It cuts out a lot of faff. The eggs in the pie are a revelation and the humble, well-softened onion supports the chicken admirably.
100g butter, plus extra melted butter for brushing6 onions, diced
2 bay leaves (fresh if possible)
1 x 1.2kg shop-bought freshly cooked chicken
3 eggs, beaten
5 sheets of filo pastry, thawed
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Put the butter in a saucepan with the onions and bay leaves. Cover and cook over a gentle heat for 20 minutes, until the onions become soft and translucent.
Take the chicken from its bag and pour all the chicken juices into the onions to reduce and become jammy, then take the pan off the heat.
Remove the skin from the chicken. Discard half and chop the rest of the skin finely. Chop the chicken into chunks. Add the skin and meat to the onions, followed by the eggs. Mix everything together and season.
Brush a deep springform cake tin (mine is 25cm wide x 5cm deep) with melted butter. Line the tin with four of the filo pastry sheets at alternate angles along the base and sides of the tin. The pastry should overhang the sides and each sheet should be brushed with a little melted butter.
Put the chicken mixture in the tin. Fold the last sheet of filo in half and put it on top of the chicken mixture. Bring the overhanging filo back over the top to seal and brush the top with a little more melted butter.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until golden and crisp. Serve with a green salad.
From Butter Boy: Collected Stories and Recipes by Paul Flynn
Photograph by Harry Weir