As the temperature drops, your cravings for warm, comforting food might seem like it’s sky-rocketing. But grabbing a heat-and-eat chicken and mushroom pie off the shelves might not be your best option.
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It can be almost just as easy to make your own at home, plus it’s a whole lot healthier because you know exactly what is going into those meals. Here’s the secret: you can save 40 minutes and 29 grams of fat by using pre-rolled filo pastry in place of the usual shortcrust.
If you’re not a pastry expert (most of us aren’t), we’ll explain it to you. Shortcrust is what you usually think of when you think of a pie or a quiche. It’s the typical flour and butter mixture that you will usually have to make yourself at home (although you can buy a mix from Woolworths here). On the other hand, filo pastry is made by layering loads of sheets of filo that are brushed with oil or butter. Then the pastry is baked. By using pre-rolled filo pastry, you don’t have to do all of the heavy-lifting. You can buy some from Mediterranean Delicacies online here.
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“You can also cook the chicken without using oil if it’s straight out of the fridge,” says sports nutritionist Ian Marber. “Just add some water after 2 minutes cooking then let it simmer for 5 minutes before adding the mushrooms. Use low-fat crème fraîche to make the sauce; it gives a better consistency and you don’t need a butter-laden roux, saving another 8g fat.”
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Your typical chicken and mushroom pie comes in at 3 607 Kilojoules (865 calories). But the MH Chicken and Mushroom Pie Recipe shaves off a third of those units. It comes in at 2 293 Kilojoules (550 calories).
