Chicken Palm Pies

Okay, you asked for a recipe and I aim to oblige so here (from Family Food by Silvana Franco) goes.

For 12 pies you'll need:

3oz pancetta or streaky bacon in small bits
4 chicken thighs (skinned and boned)
1 tsp cornflour
1 onion chopped finely
1tsp chopped sage
100ml chicken stock
500g shortcrust pastry
1 egg yolk

Cook pancetta in a frying pan till crisp and golden (you bay need a little olive oil if you use bacon), remove with a slotted spoon. Cut thighs into 1cm bits and toss with cornflour.

Cook chicken and onion in the bacon fat for about 10 mins till browned and cooked through. Add sage for last minute of cooking time, stir in stock and bring to the boil, season. Return pancetta to pan and allow filling to cool.

Preheat oven to 200deg C. Roll out pastry and cut 12 discs to fit in a 12 hole muffin tin - allow excess pastry to overhang the edges. Cut out discs for lids.

Divide filling and put in pastry cases. Dampen each lid with water and place on top, sealing the edges by pressing them together. Put a small hole in the top of each pie to let the steam escape while cooking.

Brush the tops with beaten egg yolk and bake for 20 mins until pastry is crisp and well glazed. You can eat them hot, or leave them to cool when they become great lunchbox food.

And for typing all that out, I think I deserve a sit down with some of the Halloween biscuits I made yesterday.