Braided chicken pastry
It is Saturday morning. The boys left early for soccer play-offs. My daughter needed to stay at home for some urgent work. I felt an urge to pamper this wonderful family who never peep when I neglect them and support me in so many ways. It’s been a while since I’ve made a new recipe. I wanted to use my puff pastry that’s sitting in the freezer for a long time but would have to combine it with whatever I had at home. No car to go to the supermarket. The result? This wonderful pie that you can make without having to prepare the chicken! I used chicken deli slices and it came out great! You need to have green peppers, though.
Ingredients
- two sheets of puff pastry
- 1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
- 10-15 slices of deli chicken
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 green peppers
- a pinch of black pepper
- 10 slices of yellow cheese
- 1/2 cup ground Parmesan
- 1 cup heavy cream
- one egg (optional)
- sesame seeds (optional)
How to make: Let the puff pastry thaw. Chop the onions. Wash the peppers, remove the twig and seeds, and cut into small squares. In a big skillet, saute the onions with the peppers until the onions become transparent and the peppers soft. About 7 minutes. Stir in the chicken and the ground Parmesan. Add pepper. Freshly ground pepper is always better. Take off the fire and add the cheese squares. I used American cheese but you can use whatever slices of yellow cheese you have handy. Add the heavy cream and combine well.
You can make a simple-looking pie by spreading the first sheet of puff pastry on a pan, adding the filling, and topping it with the second sheet of puff pastry or go fancy like I did today!
Spread the first sheet of puff pastry on parchment paper. Put half of the filling in the middle of the sheet across its short side. Then, use a knife or pizza slicer to cut strips at each side as shown below. Fold top and bottom over the filling. Take the top and bottom strips to “wrap” the filling, enclosing the filling in a fence with the loose strips (two from the bottom fold and two from the top fold). Use the remaining strips to create a braid effect as shown in the photo. Be sure to cover the filling as you go. When done, beat an egg and use a brush to spread some of it on the top. Sprinkle the top with some drops of water. Add uncooked sesame seeds if you have them. Do the same for the second sheet and cook at pre-heated 375F/180C oven for about 45 minutes.
Mydinnertoday 