Little Jack Horner's Christmas Chicken, Fruit and Stuffing Pie!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 slices smoked streaky bacon, chopped or, 50 g smoked lardons
• 500 g pork sausage or skinned pork sausages
• 1 lemon, zest of, grated
• 1 orange, zest of, grated
• 100 g fresh brown breadcrumbs
• 75 g ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped
• 50 g fresh cooked peeled chestnuts or canned chestnuts or vacuum-packed chestnuts, chopped
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 100 g fresh cranberries or frozen cranberries
• 500 g boneless skinless chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• 500 g ready-made shortcrust pastry or home-made shortcrust pastry
• beaten egg, to glaze

Directions

1. 1

   Heat the oven to 170C/350F/Gas 5.

2. 2

   Grease and line a 20-23cm (9") springform or deep loose-based tart tin with baking parchment or greaseproof paper.

3. 3

   Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a frying pan, then add the onion and the bacon, fry for 5 minutes until the onion is softened and the bacon browned. Cool slightly.

4. 4

   Tip the sausagemeat, lemon and orange zest, breadcrumbs, apricots, chestnuts and thyme into a bowl and mix together.

5. 5

   Add the onion, bacon and cranberries, then mix everything together with your hands, adding plenty of pepper and a little salt to taste.

6. 6

   Cut each chicken breast into three or four fillets lengthwise and season them all over with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan, and fry the chicken fillets quickly until browned, for about 6-8 minutes.

7. 7

   Roll out two-thirds of the pastry to line the springform or loose-based tart tin; make sure the pastry comes right up the sides of the tin, and extends over the edge of the tin a little bit. Press in half the sausage mixture and spread to level. Then add the chicken pieces in one even layer and cover with the rest of the sausage mixture. Press down lightly.

8. 8

   Roll out the remaining pastry, leaving a little pastry for the decorative shapes. Brush the edges of the pastry base with beaten egg and cover with the pastry lid. Pinch and crimp the edges to seal, then trim.

9. 9

   Brush the top of the pie with egg, then roll out the excess pastry trimmings to make holly leaf shapes and berries. Decorate the pie with the shapes and brush again with egg.

10. 10

    Set the tin on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, then cool in the tin for 15 minutes. Remove the pie from the tin, and leave to cool slightly. If you wish, you can place the pie back into the oven at this stage if you would like a darker crust - just sit it on a greased baking sheet and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes.

11. 11

    Serve warm or cold with a winter salads, chutneys, relishes and pickles.

12. 12

    Can be frozen once cooked for up to 1 month. Defrost in the fridge overnight.