Moroccan chicken pot pies with cumin and coriander, and a crispy filo top

Traditionally pot pies are not from North Africa, nor are they made with the lighter-than-light filo pastry, but as we are baking a lighter way I hope you can forgive me for all that.

The usual way I make them is with chicken, peas and carrots but without the benefit of buttery flaky pastry, these little pies were missing some oompfh. So I turned to the tastes of the Casbah for a flamboyant flavour boost. Spiced chicken on the inside, sweetened with apricots (hence the slightly higher natural sugar content), and a crispy crunchy filo topping scattered with rich nutty almonds. Delish.

Serves 6

EQUIPMENT & INGREDIENTS

6 ramekins or hot pot dishes about 10cm wide, 6cm high and 450ml in volume

Filling

Spray oil

2 large onions, finely sliced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

4 large chicken breasts, cut into

3cm chunks

3 tbsp cornflour

600ml good chicken stock

2 carrots, peeled and sliced into

1⁄2cm slices

100g frozen peas

50g dried apricots, roughly chopped

Leaves from a small bunch of fresh coriander or flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Topping

3 sheets of filo pastry

25g flaked almonds

To serve

Crisp green salad

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, (Fan 160°C), 350°F, Gas Mark 4.

2. Spray a little oil into a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until softened. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further minute before adding the cinnamon, cumin and paprika. Then, allow them to toast for a minute.

3. In the meantime, toss the chicken pieces in the cornflour and a little salt and pepper until evenly coated. Stir these into the onion mixture and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the stock, stirring all the time to blend in the cornflour without any lumps. Turn up the heat and add the carrots, peas, apricots and seasoning. Allow to come to the boil, then pop a lid on and reduce to simmer gently for 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce thickened.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the topping. Lay the filo sheets out in one pile and cut them into 1cm wide strips across the width (rather than down the length). I use a pastry cutter for this, but a sharp knife or even scissors or a pizza wheel will do the trick. Keep covered with a lightly dampened tea towel until ready to use to stop it from drying out.

5. Once ready, divide the pie filling among six ramekins or hot pot dishes about 10cm wide, 6cm high and 450ml in volume. Scatter the coriander or parsley over each one, then divide the filo strips into six even-sized bunches (they may have stuck together a bit, so just separate the layers). Pick up the bunches and lay one messily on top of each pie. The more bits that are sticking up and messy, the more likely the filo is to crisp up. Scatter the almonds evenly over, then spray each pie with two squirts of the spray oil. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and piping hot, the fllo is crisp and golden brown and the sauce bubbling.

6. Once cooked, remove from the oven and serve at once with a crisp green salad.

Energy 320 Kcal | Fat 5.4g | Sat Fat 0.9g | Sugar | 12.9g Protein 27g | Salt 1.08g

From Lorraine's A Lighter Way To Bake.