An easy and nutritious recipe for when you have loads of guest coming over, this is also a perfect dish for leftovers.
Ingredients
Serves 8
For the filling:
- 75g butter
- 125g drained pickled pearl onions
- 1 large carrot, finely diced
- 2 thyme sprigs, leaves removed
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 500ml chicken stock
- 1 tsp dijon
- 150ml cream
- 700g cooked chicken (meat from 1 rotisserie chicken), torn into bite-sized pieces
- 150g frozen peas
For the dumplings:
- 225g cold butter, cubed
- 475g self raising flour
- 100g grated Irish cheddar
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
- Melt 25g of the butter in a medium sized ovenproof casserole pan, add the onions and carrot and fry slowly for about 6-8 minutes or until softened with a little colour. Add the thyme and allow to soften for a minute followed by the remaining 50g of butter to the saucepan and allow to melt over a medium heat, add the flour and cook for 1 minute, whisking to combine. Gradually add the stock whisking briskly until it thickens. If it goes a little lumpy, don’t worry; just whisk vigorously until it becomes smooth.
- Season with a generous pinch of salt, black pepper and add the mustard. Pour in the cream and stir through along with the chicken and peas, allow to simmer for 1 minute and season.
- Prepare the dumplings by rubbing the butter and flour together in a bowl until resembling fine breadcrumbs, add ¾ of the cheese and season with sea salt and ground black pepper. Bring the mixture together using a knife with a couple of tablespoons of water until you have a dough, bring together into a ball using your hands. Knead slightly, before forming into 20 dumplings each around the size of a golf ball.
- Arrange on top of the chicken mix in the pan, starting from the outside leaving a little space in between each one to allow for rising, and work your way into the inside to give a nice pattern. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and place in the oven for 25 minutes until they are risen and golden.
