Chicken Puff Pie

One of my general moans when I've flown back to the nest is how difficult it is to do 'proper cooking' at uni. By difficult I of course refer to a number of problems. Firstly, the lack of food funds: food is probably at number 3 on the priority list, below alcohol and event tickets. Secondly, the lack of fridge and freezer space. With only one little shelf I play a game of tetris after every single shopping trip. Number 3: the lack of kitchen implements. You've got 5 frying pans but no kitchen knives thanks to the lack of communication between house mates come packing time. When you do eventually find said frying pan it almost inevitably has pasta stuck to the bottom of it or the handle's fallen off. With all these problems chances are you're not going to bother spending a couple of hours making the perfect pie. However for a cheat's student pie that requires just a few ingredients, a baking tray and a mixing bowl, look no further. It also tastes absolutely fabulous- the vultures (aka my male housemates) swooped before I'd even finished my first slice.

Chicken Puff Pie

Ingredients (Serves 2-3)

• 1 roll of shop-bought pre- rolled puff pastry
• 1/2 pack of passata 
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 red onion
• 1-2 chicken breasts depending on how big they are 
• 1 courgette 
• 1 red pepper 
• 2 tsp mixed italian herbs 
• 1 tsp garlic 
• 1 tsp chilli (or 1/2 a teaspoon if you're not into too much spice)
• Black pepper, to season 

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Chop up the onion, courgette and pepper and place into a mixing bowl. Make the chunks about 2cm in size. Chop the chicken into small chunks. 
• Pour the passata into the mixing oil and stir in. Add the tomato puree. The tomato puree is there to thicken the passata, so if the sauce is still fairly runny add some more tomato paste. You are looking for a consistency that is just a little bit thicker than a pasta sauce. 
• Add the spices and herbs and mix in.
• Roll out the puff pastry onto a baking tray lined with baking paper (I used foil because it was too much effort to walk to the Co-op and buy some baking paper).Fold over the edges by a couple of cm and pinch upwards, to make little pastry crusts. The edges should be high enough so that the mixture does not escape over them. 
• Spoon out the mixture evenly across the pastry. You may have a little left over but that's better than having too much on the pastry so that it seeps out everywhere. 
• Sprinkle a load of black pepper over the top and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until everything is fully cooked. 

Note, if you're short for time make the filling up earlier and leave in the fridge.