Chicken, cauliflower and sweet corn pie with a crunchy courgette crust
I got the idea for the filling of this pie from a very successful chicken and sweet corn soup. The idea for the topping came from needing to invent a healthier alternative to pastry, and looking for a way to stop the zucchini from turning everything soggy.
This is a great way of using up leftover chicken. But if you have bought a couple of uncooked chicken breasts poach them simply by putting them into a small frying pan, covering them with stock (it should be about an inch/2 cm higher than the chicken, adding a couple bay leaves and whatever fresh herbs you have to hand. Bring to a simmer, and keep it simmering gently (if you boil hard, the chicken won’t cook quicker, it will just become tough). Cook until the chicken is cooked through – 10-15 minutes.
It looks like a lot of steps, but essentially you fry the onion and garlic, make a roux, add the liquids to make a sauce, and add the filling – the chicken, cauliflower, mushrooms and sweet corn.
Then you make the topping for the pie by mixing dried zucchini with breadcrumbs, slivered almonds, some cauliflower stalk and parmesan and binding the lot together with an egg.
But yes – it could take an hour to prepare.
You can make the pie ahead of time, reheating, uncovered, in a 180°C for twenty minutes, or until it’s hot enough. If you think the topping could do with a bit of crunching up, put it under the grill for a minute or two, but take care that the almonds don’t start to burn.
This makes a pie for six – or two pies for three. If you are planning to divide it in that way, make two pies, rather than one larger one and leaving in the same dish as it tends to collapse in on itself.
Chicken, cauliflower and sweet corn pie with a crunchy courgette crust
Serves – 6
Ingredients
- 1 large onion
- Butter
- 1 x cauliflower, 750g1 lb 10 oz approx.
- 200g/7 oz chicken (about two breasts), cooked
- 2 x 165/198g 6/7 oz net/gross weight tins sweetcorn – or one 14 oz one
- 30g/1 oz parsley – a small bunch
- 240 ml/1 cup milk
- 15 g/ 0.5 oz dried porcini mushrooms
- 200 ml/1 cup double cream
- 60ml/¼ cup dry vermouth
- 2 tbsps flour
- 80-100 g/3-4 oz, about 5”/12 cm chorizo, mild
- Urfa pepper flakes
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with one teaspoon of salt
For the crunchy courgette crust:
- 3 zucchini
- Olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 60-80g/¾ cup of parmesan
- 120g/1 cup of breadcrumbs
- 50g/½ cup of slivered almonds
- 1 egg
- Walnut oil to drizzle
- 2 tbsps Herbes de Provence
Photos
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Leave the porcini in the cup you’ve used to measure out with, but fill the cup with hot water.
- Peel and chop the onion and get it frying gently in plenty of butter (about four walnuts worth). Prepare the garlic if you haven’t already and add that to the frying pan.
- Cut your zucchini into very thin slices, and chop; or even better spiralise with either a spiraliser, or with a simple julienne peeler (go here to find out more about these). Mix in a couple of teaspoons of salt. Put the lot in a colander in the sink and weight it down (with a plate and a couple of tins). Leave for about fifteen minutes.
- Meanwhile, divide the cauliflower into small florets, and microwave on 850 for 6 minutes (or boil in salted water for about five minutes). Reserve the stem for the crispy crust.
- Add the flour, mix in well. If it looks a bit dry add a little more butter. Season with smoked salt and a pinch of Urfa pepper flakes. Keep heating gently for three minutes or so – don’t let the flour turn brown. You are making a roux. To find out more about that follow this link.
- Take the mushrooms out of the water, squeezing them as you do, and put them on a chopping board.
- Add the water, minus any gritty bits which have sunk to the bottom (or pass the water through a sieve), to the onion and mix well to avoid lumps. Add the milk slowly, again mixing well, until there are no remaining lumps.
- By now your zucchini will have been soaking with the salt for about 15 minutes. Take off the weight and squeeze them mercilessly with your hands – you will be amazed at how much liquid comes out – it’s almost like spinach! Spread out on a large oven tray lined with foil or silicon paper, drizzling over a little olive oil, and mixing it in.
- Put this in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the cream to the onion mixture. Mix in well. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add. Add the tins of sweetcorn. Roughly chop the mushrooms and add. Chop the chorizo and add. Snip in the parsley. Transfer to a pie dish if you need to (I simply used the same deep frying pan, taking off its removeable handle).
- Mix the parmesan, breadcrumbs, Herbes de Provence and slivered almonds together in a medium mixing bowl. Season.
- Take the zucchini out of the oven – it should have started to turn a bit crispy. Turn the oven up to 210°C. Mix the zucchini in with the other ingredients. Add an egg and mix the whole lot well. Use this mix to top the pie.
- Put the pie in the oven for five minutes. Drizzle over a little walnut oil. Serve carefully, keeping the crunchy crust separate, rather than mixing in with the rest of the pie.
