CHICKEN YASSA-INSPIRED POT PIE

Makes one pie in a 22cm pie dish

Serves 4-6 depending on how hungry you are!

• 2 sheets of ready made puff pastry (I use Jus-Roll) - defrosted 

Chicken marinade:

• 5 boneless and skinless chicken thigh fillets, cut into chunks (roughly 4-6 chunks per fillet)
• Cloves of 1/2 bulb garlic 
• 1/2 a medium-sized scotch bonnet (seeds removed)
• 1/2 onion cut into small to medium sized chunks
• Small piece of peeled ginger (roughly 2-3 cm) 
• 1 tbsp of stock powder 
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp rock salt
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar 

To cook the pie filling

• 4-5 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 4 onions, sliced
• 2 tsp of brown sugar
• 1 tsp allspice 
• Pinch of nutmeg  
• 150 ml stock
• 2-3 tbsp pitted olives 
• 5 bay leaves

1. Use a blender/food processor to blend together the garlic, ginger, onion and chilli - add just enough water to loosen as needed.
2. In a bowl, mix together the chicken pieces with the above paste, with the remaining chicken marinade ingredients.
3. Leave to marinade covered in the fridge for at least 1 hour. If you are able to leave for longer, or even overnight, great.
4. Heat around 3 tbsp of vegetable oil in a wide pot/dutch over/deep pan on medium heat until it takes on a little golden/brown colour. Remove the cooked chicken and keep aside.
5. Add a further 2 tbsp of vegetable oil to the same pot (they’ll be some chicken marinade left behind), add the onion and cook on a low to medium heat. 
6. When the onion is soft, add the brown sugar, allspice and nutmeg, and continue to cook, stirring regularly, until the onions are deep brown caramelised - be patient!
7. Add back the chicken, pour in the stock, olives and bay leaves and leave to simmer together on low to medium heat for 5-10 minutes, then take off the heat and leave to cool.
8. Grease your pie dish. Fold one pastry sheet in half and stretch across the base of your pie dish, removing any excess.
9. Spoon the filling onto the pastry base, spreading evenly.
10. Fold the second pastry sheet in half and stretch across the top of the pie dish, removing any excess. Wrap up any excess pastry in cling film and freeze for another time.
11. Bake the pie at 200 degrees (fan) for 40-45 minutes. It should be a deep golden brown (i.e. on the browner side).

• See reels on toyotastes (IG) for visual aids
• The pie filling is mild in heat, if you want it hotter you can adjust the amount of scotch bonnet
• You can pound the garlic, chilli, ginger and onion into a paste in a pestle and mortar rather than blending if you prefer (you’ll need to finely chop the onion half)
• For slicing the onion for the remaining pie filling - a maudlin is your friend if you’re comfortable with them, wear gloves and don’t rush etc. etc.
• You can use any stock, whether meat or veg - if you have some leftover from something else please do use that!
• The pastry assemblage uses a rough and ready approach for a rustic-style pie. 
• The pastry is folded because a) I love a lot of pastry, especially where there is a solid filling and b) I’ve found this helps to get a crisp bottom. It does take longer to cook through though, hence the longer cooking time.