Chicken and Mushroom Pie with Pancetta (Gluten Free)

A warming, delicious gluten free short crust pastry pie with a chicken, mushroom and pancetta filling. Perfect for weekend baking. This gluten free pie serves 4 people and it wonderful with a side of potatoes and green veg. Try new potatoes or mash and green beans, or chips and peas. Sweet potato mash is a lovely side too.

Pastry:
gluten free all-purpose flour blend (360 g)
1¼ tsp. xanthan gum, omit if your flour blend already contains it
½ tsp. sea salt
unsalted butter, chilled (190 g)
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2-3 Tbsp. water

Filling:
1 onion
1 small carrot
chestnut mushrooms (180 g)
smoked pancetta or bacon pieces (125 g)
leftover roast chicken (250 g)
unsalted butter (50 g)
cornstarch (50 g)
1 Tbsp. wholegrain mustard
chicken stock (300 mL)
white wine (50 mL)
single cream (100 mL)
milk (50 mL)

Egg Wash:
1 egg
1 tsp. milk

Start by making the pastry. Sift the flour, xanthan gum and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine.

Grate the chilled butter into the bowl (use the large grater setting on a cheese grater) and toss the butter strands through the flour with a fork. Once the butter is coated with flour, use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you have a coarse breadcrumb-like texture. Beat the egg and egg yolk and add to the bowl. Stir through with the fork.

Add 2 Tbsp. water (you may not need the third) and use your hands to bring the ingredients together to form a nice ball of dough. It should come away from the sides of the bowl and the dough will be smooth and pliable. If it is still a bit crumbly, add the third Tbsp. water and work to combine.

Take a large piece of greaseproof paper (~ 40 cm long) and place the ball of dough on the waxed, non-stick side. Press it down gently with your hands to form an oval shape a couple of cm thick. Now fold the paper over to cover the other side of the dough and then fold the edges over so that you have a nice little dough parcel. Now place into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

While the pastry is chilling, make the filling. First, panfry the pancetta in a little oil until crispy, then set the pancetta pieces aside in a bowl.

Finely dice the onion and carrot and add to the frying pan and cook for 10 minutes until the onion has softened.

Chop the mushrooms into small pieces and add to the pan with the onions and carrot. Cook for 5 mins until the mushrooms have softened and any excess liquid has evaporated off.

Dice the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to the pan, along with the bacon, then turn off the heat. Simply stir through (no cooking needed, you don't want to dry out the chicken), then tip the contents of the pan out into a large bowl and set aside while we make a nice sauce to bind the filling.

Add the butter and cornstarch to the pan and heat until the butter is melted. Use a small whisk or wooden spoon to mix the butter and flour into a roux (a thick paste) and allow to sizzle for a minute.

Now add wholegrain mustard, then the chicken stock and wine in stages, pouring a little in at a time, stirring constantly and keeping the pan over the heat. At each addition, stir the stock/wine into the roux, then whisk/stir quite vigorously to ensure the sauce remains smooth and lump free. Then add the cream and milk and whisk again until you have a thick, smooth sauce (if not thick yet, keep heating and stirring to thicken - if a bit lumpy, don't fret, give it a good stir but no one will notice any little lumps in the final dish).

Tip the chicken/pancetta/mushroom mix into the sauce and stir it all well to combine. Set aside until the pastry has finished chilling.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan, Gas Mark 6).

Time to assemble the pie. I use a 23 cm spring form tin, well-greased with butter and it works so well as you can easily release the pie once baked (a total accidental discovery when I realised, I didn't own a pie tin). You can use a different sized spring form pan or pie tin if you wish, but if using a pie tin please ensure it is fairly deep to hold a good amount of filling.

Unwrap the chilled dough and place the greaseproof paper on your worktop. Place a large (roughly 30 cm) piece of cling film on top of the dough.

Use a rolling pin to roll the pastry out quite thin, about 3 mm thick, in a large circular shape - wide enough to completely cover the springform tin and sides.

Peel off the cling film and gently flip the greaseproof paper and dough over onto the tart tin, then carefully peel the greaseproof off.

Tuck the pastry into the tin, pressing down to completely cover the base and bring the pastry edges to approximately two thirds of the way up the sides of the tin and use a sharp knife to slice off the excess pastry. Any breaks in the pastry can be easily patched up (see my images below), simply press the dough back together. Set the offcuts aside for a moment as you'll use these to make the pie lid.

Tip the pie filling into the tin, levelling it on top and leaving a couple of mm of pastry edge above the top of the filling.

Roll the remaining pastry out into a circular pie lid shape and place on top of the filling. Cut off any excess (which you can use as decoration), then gently press round the edge with your finger to help the sides and side fuse, before crimping with a fork.

Cut a small cross in the centre to allow any steam to escape during cooking, then decorate the pie as you wish. Make the egg wash with the egg and milk (whisk together) then brush a light layer of it over the top of the pie (you won't use it all).

Pop the pie into the oven to bake for 45 minutes at 400°F (200°C/180°C fan, Gas Mark 6). Once baked, carefully ease out of the tin and either enjoy straight away or it'll stay quite warm for an hour or so after cooking.

Makes 4 servings.