Turkey, Wild Mushroom and Chestnut Pie
This hearty British pie works beautifully with leftover turkey from Christmas day or turkey breast cooked from fresh. Perfect for feeding and pleasing a crowd. It’s super flexible so if you have any other veg lying around that you want to add like carrots, parsnips or cavolo nero then just account for this in the quantities, maybe remove a few mushrooms or some turkey etc. Also works wonderfully with chicken or guinea fowl if Turkey isn’t making an appearance this year.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
0live oil
500kg turkey breast
1 large red onion, peeled and sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 leeks, thickly sliced
250g mixed wild mushrooms
handful of thyme sprigs, leaves picked
100g chestnuts, cooked
2 tbsp plain flour
400ml chicken stock
200ml milk (cows or oat milk)
500g pack fresh puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Method
1. Heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan and cook the turkey until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. If using leftovers skip this step.
2. Add the onion, garlic, leeks, mushrooms and thyme sprigs to the pan, then sauté for 5 mins until the onions start to soften. Remove from the heat.
3. Stir through the flour then gradually whisk in the stock then milk.
4. Over a medium heat, add the chestnuts and cooked turkey to the pan then simmer for 25-30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. When the consistency is lovely and creamy, transfer the mixture to a large baking dish (approx. 20cm x 30cm). Leave to cool.
6. Preheat the oven to 200C fan and roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface to about ½ cm thick to make a pie lid.
7. Grease the edges of the dish with a little butter then carefully lift the pastry over the pie and gently press the edges with your fingers to seal it. Trim the edges if need be.
8. Make any cuts or patterns in the pastry as you wish to decorate then brush the pastry with the egg.
9. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown. Serve with leftover veg!
