Chicken pies come in all shapes and sizes. Some are creamy, round, and topped with puff pastry, while others are made with a rich gravy and crumbly shortcrust lid. Rick Stein’s recipe differs from both, using creamy mashed potato as the topping and shredded chicken inside.
As shared on his show, Rick Stein’s Long Weekends, the French-inspired potato-topped pie recipe is “wildly popular” and “ridiculously easy” to make. Known as Parmentier pie, the French dish is one of many named for Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (1737-1813), a French pharmacist and agronomist who spent his adult life promoting the humble potato.
Rick Stein’s chicken pie recipe
Ingredients
For the potato topping
1.5kg floury potatoes, such as King Edwards, peeled
30g/1oz butter
Five tbsp double cream
Two free-range egg yolks
Salt and black pepper
For the filling
30g butter
Six large or eight small shallots peeled and halved
Three carrots, chopped
Two sticks of celery chopped
One garlic clove, finely chopped
Four tbsp dry white wine
One tbsp tomato purée
Four large ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or 1 x 400g tin chopped plum tomatoes)
350ml chicken stock
600g leftover roast chicken, shredded
16 black olives, stones removed, halved
Two tbsp chopped fresh parsley
50g Gruyère cheese
Method
Very little is needed regarding equipment, but a 20x30cm ovenproof dish is essential.
Start with the topping: Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain them, and thoroughly put them through a potato ricer or mash. Stir in the butter, cream, and egg yolks for extra creaminess, then season with salt and pepper.
To make the filling, first melt the butter in a large pan. Add the shallots, carrots and celery and gently fry until soft, then add the garlic. Pour in the wine and cook for one minute before stirring in the tomato purée, chopped tomatoes and stock.
Cook everything for 10 to 15 minutes, until thickened, then add the shredded chicken, olives and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and pour the filling into the ovenproof pie dish.
Top with the mashed potato then grate over the Gruyère. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until piping hot inside and the potato is golden-brown on top.
Serve on its own or with green vegetables.