Tatar chicken, rice, mushroom & herb pie

Ingredients

• Leftover poached chicken (about 200-300g)
• 120g white rice, cooked
• 60g butter
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 2 large portabella mushrooms, sliced
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 2 tbsp full fat yoghurt
• 1 small bunch of fresh dill
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 3 sheets of filo pastry
• A small handful of dill fronds (or tarragon leaves)

Method

Fry the onion in half the butter and 1 tbsp rapeseed oil over a low heat, stirring from time to time, until golden brown and caramelised. Take the onions out, add a little more oil and fry the mushrooms for 5-7 mins over a medium heat until brown. Mix the onion and mushrooms together.

Shred the chicken with your hands and mix with the yoghurt. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Melt the remaining butter and brush some of it over the base and sides of a shallow, medium-sized pie dish. Put the first layer of pastry in – it should cover the base and the sides – then brush it with butter. Put the second sheet in, repeat with the butter, then do the same for the third.

Preheat the oven to 160C. Sprinkle the rice into the dish as the first layer, then add the chicken, and finally top with the mushrooms and onions. Sprinkle the spring onions over the top. Fold the pastry in ruffles around the edge of the dish and dab with more melted butter. If you would like to bake it later, pop a damp towel over the pie dish and keep it in the fridge. Otherwise, place in a hot oven for 15-20 mins, or until golden. Top the exposed bit of the pie with dill fronds and serve alongside a spring salad.

Image: Kim Lightbody