Chicken and pear pie in blue cheese pastry
Rosa Matto’s delectable chicken and pear pie in blue cheese pastry is a labour of love in the kitchen.
Makes 6
for blue cheese pastry
250g strong plain flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
180g butter, at room temperature, but not soft
70g blue cheese
100ml iced water
Sift plain flour and salt into a large bowl. Cube the butter and cheese into small chunks, add them to the bowl and rub them in loosely. Small chunks of butter and cheese should still be visible. Make a well in the mixture and pour in about 100ml of iced water, mixing until you have a firm dough, adding extra water very gradually if needed. Roll out to a rectangle, wrap, and leave to rest for 30 minutes in the fridge. Turn out onto a lightly floured board, roll the dough to about 20x50cm. Keep edges straight and even. Don’t overwork the butter streaks; you should have a marbled effect. Fold down the top third and fold up the bottom third as if folding a letter. Cover and rest in the fridge for
30 minutes before using.
for chicken and pear pie
olive oil, as needed
1kg chicken thigh fillets, cut into small dice
thyme leaves
2 pears, cut into thin slices
2 brown onions peeled and sliced finely
250ml pear cider
250ml chicken stock
1 tsp grainy mustard
200g uncooked spinach
100g toasted walnuts, chopped roughly
4 boiled eggs, peeled and chopped roughly
salt and pepper
1 whole egg for egg wash
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a frypan and fry the chicken in batches until just cooked. Season with thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken pieces and set aside.
In the same pan, add a little more oil if necessary and sauté the onions until transparent and beginning to colour. Add the mustard. Season lightly. Remove and reserve.
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Pour in the pear cider and scrape up the bottom and sides of the frypan. Allow to reduce to half. Add the chicken stock and reduce again by half. Season.
Set this aside, it will become the infusing stock to be poured into the finished pies.
Meanwhile, steam the spinach until cooked. Squeeze dry and mix with walnuts. Season lightly. You are now ready to assemble your pie.
For assembly, line 6 teacups with plastic wrap, leaving plenty of overhang.
Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into 6 even portions. Cut each portion into two parts: one part being two-thirds of the portion and the other part, one-third. Keep covered.
Take one of the two-thirds pieces and roll out into a circle to fit into the teacup with at least 2cm overhang. Gently push down for shape.
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Begin assembling pie by putting in a chicken layer, then cover the chicken with pear slices. Top this with the onion. Next add the layer of spinach, then the boiled egg and finish with a thin layer of chicken.
Press down lightly.
Roll out the one-third piece to a disk 1.5 cm larger than the teacup. Upend the contents of the teacup, using the plastic wrap to centre it on the bottom disc. Trim and seal the edge.
Using a small cutter, cut out a vent hole about 1cm in diameter. Use any pastry off-cuts to decorate the vent and the pie. Use a sharp knife to cut shallow lines into the pastry if you like. Brush well with egg wash.
When all the pies are assembled, bake them at 180C for 25-30 minutes or until they are crisp and golden.
These can be made one day in advance.
Meanwhile, finish off the infusing stock. You should have about 300ml of stock from the pan juices, if not, add more chicken stock and bring to the boil. Flavour with extra thyme leaves and taste for seasoning.
for red wine and pear jelly jus, makes about 500 ml
2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, left whole
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 fresh bay leaf
500ml red wine
250ml chicken stock
12 peppercorns
20g chilled butter, finely chopped
1 tbsp pear jelly or red currant jelly
Heat the oil in a medium frying pan over high heat. Add the onion, garlic and herbs and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring often for 8 minutes or until soft, but not coloured. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by three-quarters.
Add the stock to the frying pan and season with pepper. Simmer until reduced by half. Strain and discard the onion and herbs. Transfer the sauce to a small saucepan and whisk in the butter in batches, making sure each batch has melted before adding the next. Melt in the jelly. Taste and season with salt if needed.
To serve, put a pie on each plate and drizzle the red wine and pear jelly jus around it. At the table, pour the infusing stock directly into each of the pies.
This recipe first appeared in the July 2025 issue of SALIFE magazine.
