Summer Italian Pie. So Unbelievably Delicious.

We love chicken pie - it is such a surprisingly easy meal to make and tastes incredibly homely.  Getting out of my comfort zone of puff pastry and leeks this week, I made a Summer-y chicken pie.  I channelled thoughts of pesto and Italian summers and the rest is history.

You can't really argue with the combo of parmesan, tomatoes, basil and chicken, it is just too perfect for words (even if the photo doesn't show its best side)!  And topping the whole lot with phyllo pastry makes it much lighter, perfect for a summer lunch or dins.

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil
200g shallots, sliced finely
4 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
40 g basil leaves, torn
250 g tub creme fraiche
half the creme fraiche tub of water
2 tsp veg stock powder or two cubes
60 g parmesan cheese, grated
150 g cherry tomatoes, halved
zest 1/2 lemon
100 g spinach, torn
salt and black pepper
6 sheets of phyllo pasty
a little melted butter for bushing the pastry


Method

1. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan over a low heat.  Add the shallots and allow to cook gently for 10 minutes or until very soft. Stir occasionally.
2. Add the garlic and chicken breast and increase the heat to moderate to seal the chicken. Stir often.

3. Add the remaining ingredients bar the pastry and butter to the pan and stir and season well.  Allow to bubble away for 5-10 minutes or until the liquid is a little creamy rather than liquidy.

4. Heat the oven to 180C and spoon the chicken mixture into a ovenproof dish.  Brush each each of filo pastry with a little melted butter then place in layers over the chicken, scrunching up the pastry as you go.  Brush the final layer with butter and pop the whole lot in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and the filling bubbling.

Serve hot with new potatoes and a salad.