Jamie Oliver Chicken & Chive Pie

Jamie Oliver’s chicken and chive pie is a flat puff-pastry pie of shredded poached chicken, soured cream, wholegrain mustard and chives, sealed between two sheets and baked golden. It serves 6 and takes 45 minutes.

In Simply Jamie (2024) this is the pay-off to his poached chicken. The filling is already cooked, so the pie is pure assembly: mix the shredded chicken and its poached veg with soured cream and mustard, wrap it in ready-rolled puff, and bake. No sauce to make, no raw meat to worry about.

The trick that makes it is beating the soggy bottom. Before it bakes, you sit the assembled pie on a medium hob for one minute to start crisping the base, then bake it on the floor of the oven. That direct heat from below sets the pastry before the creamy filling can soak in.

Jamie Oliver Chicken & Chive Pie

Recipe by Pinch Perfect

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Dinner, LunchCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Calories

608

kcal

Total time

45

minutes

Jamie’s fast assembly pie from Simply Jamie: shredded poached chicken and veg in soured cream and wholegrain mustard, wrapped in ready-rolled puff and baked golden. Feeds six.

Ingredients

• 450g (1 lb) shredded poached chicken and veg (from Jamie’s simple poached chicken)

• 1 bunch of chives (20g)

• 250ml (9 fl oz) soured cream

• 2 tablespoons semi-skimmed milk

• 2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard

• 2 x 320g sheets of ready-rolled puff pastry

• 1 free-range egg

• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

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Directions

• Make the filling:Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Roughly chop the poached veg and put it in a bowl with the shredded chicken. Finely slice and add the chives, then the soured cream, milk, mustard and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Mix well.
• Build the base:Unroll one pastry sheet, keeping it on its paper, and lay it in a baking tray. Spoon and flatten the filling across the centre, leaving a 3cm border all round.
• Top and seal:Beat the egg and brush the exposed border. Unroll the second sheet over the top, peel off its paper, then press the edges together with a fork. Brush the top with eggwash.
• Crisp the base:Scatter over the sesame seeds and cut a small cross in the centre. Sit the tray over medium heat on the hob for 1 minute to start crisping the base, so no one gets a soggy bottom.
• Bake:Bake on the bottom of the oven for 30 minutes, until golden and cooked through. Serve with a mixed salad or some steamed seasonal veg.

FAQs

How do I stop the bottom going soggy?

This is the question with every creamy pie, and Jamie answers it in two moves. First, sit the assembled pie on a medium hob for a minute before it bakes, which starts crisping the base directly. Then bake it on the floor of the oven, where the heat hits the bottom hardest.

Between them, the pastry sets before the wet filling can soak in. Don’t skip the hob minute thinking the oven will do it, since by the time the base catches up, the filling has already gone in. The little cross on top also lets steam escape rather than sogging the lid.

Do I have to cook the chicken first?

No, and that’s the whole point. The filling is built on already-cooked poached chicken and its veg, so the pie is assembly only, with no raw meat to cook through. It’s the natural next step after making a batch of poached chicken earlier in the week.

If you haven’t got poached chicken, leftover roast chicken or a shop-bought rotisserie bird works just as well, shredded up. Just make sure the meat is cold when it goes in, so it doesn’t start melting the butter in the pastry before it bakes.

Why soured cream and wholegrain mustard?

Soured cream is what keeps the filling creamy without turning stodgy, and its gentle tang stops the whole thing tasting flat and heavy. It coats the chicken and veg without needing a cooked white sauce, which is what makes this so fast.

The wholegrain mustard brings warmth and little bursts of flavour rather than fierce heat, so it suits the family table. The two tablespoons of milk just loosen the mix enough to spread it evenly. Taste and season well, since a bland filling shows in a pie this simple.

How do I seal and shape it neatly?

Keep it flat and free-form rather than fussing with a dish. Spoon the filling onto the first sheet leaving a clear 3cm border, then eggwash that border so the top sheet sticks. Lay the second sheet over, peel off its paper, and press all round with a fork to seal and crimp in one go.

The fork edge looks deliberate and stops the seam bursting open. Eggwash the top and scatter the sesame seeds for a glossy, golden, crunchy finish. Don’t forget the steam cross in the middle, or the pie can puff and split.

What do I serve it with, and does it keep?

Jamie serves it simply, with a mixed salad or some steamed seasonal veg, and that’s the right call against a rich, creamy pie. A sharp green salad like olives greek salad cuts through it nicely. Keep the sides light so the pie stays the star.

It’s best fresh from the oven while the pastry is crisp. Leftovers keep a couple of days in the fridge, but reheat them in the oven rather than the microwave, which turns puff pastry limp. A few minutes at 180°C brings the crunch back.

Can I make it ahead, freeze it, or change the filling?

You can assemble it a few hours ahead and keep it chilled, then bake it fresh when you need it. It also freezes well assembled but unbaked, so wrap it and bake from frozen with a little extra time. Either way, the pastry crisps best from cold.

The filling is easy to vary: add leftover ham, softened leeks or mushrooms, or swap the chives for spring onions. If you fancy another quick puff-pastry route, chicken and mushroom pastry parcels are individual hand pies.