Even the word pie is comforting. But then, it would be hard to deny the very real lure of pastry, especially when - as here - you know you're going to dunk it in gravied juices till its gorgeous lightness is deliciously, soggily heavy. I concede, however, that making and rolling out your own pastry is not necessarily the speediest option, so I use [store] bought, all-butter, ready-rolled puff pastry and feel fine about it. I make the pie even easier by browning the chicken and making the sauce all in one go. And a gold-crusted, welcoming pie for two in half an hour is not bad going.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Fry the bacon strips in the oil until beginning to crisp, then add the sliced mushrooms and soften them in the pan with the bacon.
Turn the chicken strips in the flour and thyme (you could toss them about in a freezer bag), and then melt the butter in the pan before adding the floury chicken and all the flour left in the bag. Stir around with the bacon and mushrooms until the chicken begins to color.
Pour in the hot stock and Marsala, stirring to form a sauce and let this bubble away for about 5 minutes.
Make a pastry rim for each of your pots for the pies, by this I mean an approximately 1/2-inch strip curled around the top of the pots. Dampen the edges to make them stick.
Cut a circle bigger than the top of each pie-pot for the lid, and then divide the chicken filling between the two.
Dampen the edges again and then pop on the top of each pie sealing the edges with your fingers or the underneath of the prongs of a fork.
Cook the pies for about 20 minutes turning them around half way through cooking. Once cooked, they should puff up magnificently.
Tools You May Need
Recipe courtesy of Nigella Lawson(Copyright 2007, Nigella Express, Hyperion, All Rights Reserved)
Tools You May Need
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