Easy as pie...a comforting dish to warm you up this weekend

Sat, 10 Jan, 2026 - 07:04

There is very little to beat the smell of a delicious golden-crusted pie coming out of the oven. It’s one of life’s amazing treats. And it is not that difficult to make, with the help of convenient, ready-made puff pastry.

This weekend, I’ve mixed chicken with mushrooms and diced smoked pancetta to make a super filling for a pie, moistened with a cheese and mustard sauce. All the main ingredients are cooked together in one large skillet pan, with the creamy sauce made separately and poured over before covering with ready-rolled puff pastry and baking. I like to decorate the top of my pies to make it look like I really made the effort – but a brush of egg glaze will still give it a nice gloss without decorating.

For pudding, when you’ve had to heat the oven up, you may as well make the most of it in these days of conserving energy. I’ve got a dessert that can be popped in the oven with or after the pie, and served hot, warm or cooled. With the inclement weather preventing us from getting out much, there’s a soothing comfort in being in a warm kitchen having a bit of a bake off! This Apple Upside Down Cake is a great dessert for these chilly days. I would have it with custard, but it also works with cream and will be lovely cold and sliced with a cuppa – if it lasts that long!

CHICKEN, MUSHROOM AND SMOKED PANCETTA PIE

Ingredients (Serves 4)

For the pie:

2 tbsp olive oil
85g pack diced fresh pancetta, smoked
3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
454g pack skinless chicken breast fillets, diced
100g mushrooms, sliced
Good handful fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 sheet frozen ready rolled puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

For the sauce:

30g butter
30g plain flour
400mls milk
50g grated cheddar cheese
1 generous tsp Dijon Mustard, or to taste

"I like to decorate the top of my pies to make it look like I really made the effort – but a brush of egg glaze will still give it a nice gloss without decorating," says Di.

Method

Heat oil in a pan and fry pancetta till beginning to brown.
Add shallots and chicken and cook till the chicken is sealed.
Add mushrooms and continue cooking, stirring, till the chicken and mushrooms are lightly browned.
Stir in the herbs and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove from heat and set aside while you make the sauce.
For the sauce, melt butter in a non-stick saucepan and add flour. Cook for a minute, stirring to make a paste.
Gradually add milk, little by little, whisking vigorously between additions. Continue adding milk like this until all is incorporated and you have a creamy white sauce.
Stir in cheese and mustard and season.
Pour most of the sauce over the chicken mix in the skillet and stir through, reserving a little for extra pouring at the table.
Spoon into an ovenproof pie dish. Let the chicken mix cool slightly.
Unroll the pastry sheet and cut to the size of your dish, leaving enough to overlap edges.
Beat the egg. Brush edges of dish and edges of pastry with egg glaze. Lay this side down over the pie filling. Pinch the pastry round the edges of the dish to secure.
Make a small slit in the centre of the pastry to allow steam to escape. Brush pastry top all over with egg glaze.
Use the remaining pastry to make decorations and secure on top of the crust with egg glaze and brush tops.
Bake in a preheated oven at 200C Gas 6 for 25 minutes or until the pastry is risen and golden and the filling is piping hot.
Reheat remaining sauce and serve on the side, with chips or mashed potatoes and greens of choice.

APPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Ingredients

75g butter
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
2 apples, cored and sliced
Maple syrup for drizzling
175g plain flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
175g caster sugar
175g butter, in cubes
3 medium fresh free range eggs, beaten
Splash of milk
2 apples, cored and sliced in wedges
2 tbsp runny honey
Sifted icing sugar for dusting

This Apple Upside Down Cake is a great dessert for these chilly days.

Method

Melt butter in a pan and add sugar. Stir to melt and caramelise.
Add apple slices and toss in the caramel mix.
Remove from heat and leave till cool enough to handle.
Arrange in a twirl pattern in the base of a 20cm shallow cake tin, lined with well-buttered baking parchment.
Drizzle apples with maple syrup.
Sift flour with baking powder and reserve.
Beat sugar with butter till light, pale and fluffy.
Gradually add the eggs, bit by bit, with alternate spoons of flour mix.
When all the egg is added, tip in the remaining flour and whisk in.
Add enough milk to make a very soft dropping consistency.
Spoon the sponge mix over the apples evenly, levelling the surface. Give a little tap to knock out the air bubbles.
Bake in a pre-heated oven Gas 5 375F 190C or 180C for fan assisted, for about 30 minutes or until the sponge is just set. Cover the top with parchment or foil if it is getting too brown.
Test sponge by piercing with a skewer. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready.
Cool slightly in the tin before turning out.
To turn out, loosen the cake around the edges of the tin with the point of a sharp knife.
Place a plate over the top of the cake.
Hold the plate and tin and invert the cake so the plate is on the bottom.
Carefully lift off the cake tin. If any apples stick in the base, simply lift them out and pop them back on top of the cake.
Drizzle with extra maple syrup and serve warm, with cream or ice cream.

THE WEEKEND GARGLE

For those not on the wagon for Dry January, a nifty bottle of white wine will go down well with this pie. A Chardonnay with some personality will do the trick nicely. Invivo Chardonnay from the Gisborne region of New Zealand has some big fruit notes, backed with creamy smoothness and a little smoky oak. A perfect accompaniment for the chicken and its creamy cheese sauce, specked with fragrant herbs. New Zealand Chardonnays are not often cheap, but find this one now at Supervalu stores is priced at just €10.00, on special offer till 14/01/26. A bargain buy with its elegant sophistication in a glass.

RECEIPT

Main course

Chicken fillets 454g pack: €7.00

Mushrooms 300g: €1.19

Pancetta x 2 pack 170g: €1. 49

Parsley pack: €1.19

Thyme pack: €1.19

Milk 1ltr: €1.19

Mature Cheddar Cheese 250g: €2.29

Ready rolled puff pastry 320g: 99c

Total: €16.53

Dessert