The Food-The fad and the fuddy

Chicken Pot Pie

INGREDIENTS

• 1 roll blätterteig(puff pastry)
• 1 box buttergemüse (frozen veggies with butter) peas, carrots, corn, cauliflower
• 1 chicken breast
• 0.5 cups milk
• 2 tbs butter
• 0.25 cup flour
• 0.5 teaspoon salt

METHODS

1. Cut chicken breast into 1.5cm cubes. Smaller cubes means that the chicken cooks more evenly, and soaks up more sauce.
2. Fry chicken bits in pan with a bit of oil.
3. Add frozen veggies and stir until thoroughly heated.
4. Add butter and let it melt. Add flour and mix so that there are no lumps.Then thin out the roux with milk.
5. Season mixture with salt and thyme.
6. Line baking dish/ramekin with the dough and trim excess (or fill the pie, then fold over the excess)
7. Fill dish with chicken and veggie mixture and cover with more pastry dough.
8. Make some slits in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape
9. Bake in oven at 200C for 40 min. This may vary for your oven, since I have a mini oven! A good way to know when your stuff is done is when the pie starts to turn brown at the edges – the filling should already be properly cooked, so all you’re doing is heating up the pastry dough.
10. Remove and serve piping hot!

Pasta

Ingredients

• 8 ounces penne pasta
• 1 Jar (8 to 10 ounce size) sundried tomatoes in oil
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 3 large cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 6 ounces of fresh shredded Parmesan cheese
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:

Boil the pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, combine the remaining ingredients together in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Process until it reaches a smooth consistency and all ingredients are approximately the same size.

When the pasta is cooked, drain the pasta, reserving one cup of the pasta water.

In the pot that the pasta was cooked in, combine the Tomato pesto and the cup of hot water and stir to create the sauce. Return the drained pasta to the pot and stir to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately topped with Parmesan cheese, fresh basil leaves and a few pine nuts.