Ingredients

Method

• 1 whole free-range chicken
• 4 brown onions
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 3 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 750 g portobellini mushrooms, sliced
• 250 g leftover gammon, cubed
• 5 rosemary sprigs, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 cups chicken stock (from poaching the chicken)
• 2 cups cream
• sea salt, to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 400 g Woolworths all-butter puff pastry
• For the sprout salad, toss:
• 2 green apples, thinly sliced
• 150 g Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
• 10 g dill, roughly chopped
• 10 g parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 3 T olive oil
• salt, to taste
• green peppercorns, crushed, to taste

Method

Ingredients

1. Remove any excess fat and skin from the chicken. Place into a large saucepan with 2 onions with the skins on, the thyme, peppercorns, carrots and celery. Poach for 1–2 hours over a low heat.

2. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the liquid (reserve the liquid) and set aside to cool until you are able to shred all the meat. Place the chicken bones back into the liquid and reduce slowly for a further hour.

3. Finely chop the remaining onions and sauté until soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft, then add the gammon, rosemary and garlic. Sauté for a few more minutes.

4. Add the chicken stock and cream, season with salt and pepper and reduce slowly by half.

5. Add the shredded chicken and pour into a deep pie or baking dish. Once cooled, cover with a sheet of pastry, brush with beaten egg and bake at 200°C for 30–40 minutes. Serve with the sprout salad.

Cook’s note: For a vegetarian version, replace the chicken and gammon with roast butternut and feta.

Find more leftover recipes here. 

Photograph: Myburgh Du Plessis
Production: Bianca Strydom