Chicken Pastel

Chicken pastel is made by cooking diced meat, sausages, mushrooms, potatoes, peas, bell pepper and carrots in a creamy sauce made with onion, garlic, evaporated milk, all purpose cream, butter, chicken broth cube, cheese and oil. Adapted from Spain’s chicken pastel de pollo, the chicken filling is encased in a flaky pie crust is the ultimate comfort food! Hearty and tasty, this Filipino-style chicken pastel is sure to be a family favourite. This creamy Chicken pastel will ultimately give a delightful meal for the family for any occasion or even for ordinary weekends!

CHICKEN PASTEL RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo chicken (cut into serving pieces)
• 3 pieces calamansi (or half lemon)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 5 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 2 medium potatoes (sliced)
• 1 medium carrot (sliced)
• 3 pieces jumbo sausage (or Vienna sausage)
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup all purpose cream
• 1 cup water
• 1 piece chicken broth cube
• 1 small red bell pepper (sliced)
• 1 small green bell pepper (sliced)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 small can mushrooms
• 1/2 cup cheese (grated)
• Oil (for sauteing)

Directions:

1. Wash and prepare the chicken and place them into a large bowl. Squeeze the calamansi (or half lemon), and season with salt and pepper. Mix and massage well. Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat some oil in a pan. Add the sliced potatoes and fry for a few minutes until brown and crispy. Set aside.
3. Add the sliced carrots and fry for a few minutes until brown and crispy. Set aside.
4. Add the sausages and and fry for a few minutes until light brown. Set aside.
5. Melt some butter in the pan. Add the onions and garlic then saute for a few minutes until aromatic. Add the marinated chicken and saute until they change color. Add the chicken broth cube and some water. Stir a bit. Cover the pan and let it simmer for 15 minutes using medium heat.
6. After 15 minutes, add the mushrooms (drained), carrots, potatoes, sausages and evaporated milk. Mix well. Allow it to simmer for 3 to 5 minutes using low medium heat.
7. Then, add the grated cheese and red and green bell peppers. Lastly, add the all purpose cream and set the heat to low setting. Do a taste test and season with salt and pepper.
8. Let it cook for a few more minutes until the sauce becomes thicker and creamier. Turn the heat off.
9. Transfer the chicken pastel to a serving plate. Serve the chicken pastel together with a big plate of hot steaming rice. Yum!

The Filipino Style Chicken Pastel

Did you also become curious on why this dish is called chicken pastel? When I was young, I thought that the dish got the “pastel” because it was made with ingredients with pastel colors. That was a wild theory though. The true origin of its name is its Spanish name Pastel de Pollo which translates to “chicken pie”.

Among the different recipes for creamy chicken, the chicken pastel is a unique one. Chicken pastel is a type of dish which you can serve during lunch and dinner where everyone craves for rice or bread. With the chicken, veggie and cream combination, kanin nalang ang kulang!

While we love our ginataan dishes, creamy dishes made with heavy cream still stands out. If you wanna learn how to make some chicken pastel at home, read and follow the simple steps below. Happy cooking!

HOW TO COOK CHICKEN PASTEL

Chicken pastel is one of the easiest creamy dishes you can make at home. If you have tried any savoury chicken dish in the past, then this recipe will be super easy for you.

There are no specific chicken cuts for the chicken pastel. You can choose any cut you want or have a whole chicken and cut it at home. Start by marinating the chicken with calamansi, salt and pepper. This is to add a layer of seasonings and unleash the natural flavors of the chicken.

Other ingredients like potatoes, carrots and sausages require pre-cooking. Simply fry them until brown. The goal is to have them almost cooked, and they will cook fully in the creamy sauce later.

Saute your aromatics and the marinated chicken. Searing adds flavor to the dish and also helps seal the juices inside the chicken. To cook them fully, simmer in chicken broth. For convenience, I used chicken broth cube dissolved in water. You may add more water if needed. Add the rest of the ingredients and allow them to cook and simmer together.

The last ingredient to add, and the most important item for this dish is the all purpose cream. Remember to lower the heat first before adding in the cream to prevent it from burning. Do a last season using salt and pepper. After a few minutes of simmering, the sauce will be reduced a bit and will become richer and creamier!

The two ways to serve the chicken pastel. First is to simply serve them together with rice and the second way is to create chicken pot pies.

For the chicken pot pie, grab a ramekin, fill it up with chicken pastel, and then cover it up with homemade pie crust. If you plan to serve the pastel like this, it would be more ideal if you use boneless cuts of chicken and all the ingredients are cut in small sizes.

There is actually a third way on how to prepare chicken pastel which is very modern. To prevent the hassle of making a pie crust, simply turn them into chicken pastel pie using loaf bread! You can visit my blog on cheesy tuna pie to have an idea on how to make this. Yum!

Paano Magluto ng Chicken Pastel

Mga Sangkap:

• 1 kilo manok (hiniwa sa serving pieces)
• 3 pirasong calamansi (o kalahating lemon)
• 1 sibuyas (hiniwa)
• 5 butil ng bawang (hiniwa ng maliliit)
• 2 patatas (hiniwa)
• 1 carrot (hiniwa)
• 3 pirasong jumbo sausage (o vienna sausage)
• 1 tasang evaporated milk
• 1 tasang all purpose cream
• 1 tasang tubig
• 1 pirasong chicken broth cube
• 1 maliit red bell pepper (hiniwa)
• 1 malii green bell pepper (hiniwa)
• 1 kutsarang butter
• 1 maliit na lata mushrooms
• 1/2 tasang cheese (grated)
• mantika (pang gisa)

Directions:

1. Hugasan at ihanda ang mga manok at ilagay sa isang malaking bowl. Pigain ang calamansi (o kalahating lemon) at timplahan ng asin at paminta. Haluin itong mabuti. Imarinate ang manok ng 30 minuto.
2. Magpainit ng mantika. Iprito ang mga patatas hanggang maging brown at crispy. Isantabi.
3. Iprito ang mga carrots hanggang maging brown at crispy. Isantabi.
4. Iprito ang mga sausages hanggang maging brown at crispy. Isantabi.
5. Tunawin ang butter sa kawali. Ilagay ang sibuyas at bawang at igisa ng ilang minuto. Ilagay ang mga manok at igisa hanggang mag iba ang kulay. Sunod na ilagay ang chicken cube at konting tubig. Haluin ng konti. Takpan ang kawali at hayaan itong maluto ng 15 minuto gamit ang katamtamang apoy.
6. Pagkatapos ng 15 minuto, ilagay ang mga mushrooms, carrots, patatas, sausages at evaporated milk. Haluin ito ng konti at hayaang maluto ng 3 – 5 minuto gamit ang mahinang katamtamang apoy.
7. Ilagay ang grated cheese at ang red at green bell pepper. Huling ilagay ang all purpose cream at hinaan ang apoy. Tikman ito at timplahan ng asin at paminta.
8. Hayaan itong maluto ng ilang minuto hanggang mas lumapot ang sabaw at maging creamy. Patayin ang apoy.
9.   Ilipat ang chicken pastel sa serving plate. Ihain ang chicken pastel kasama ng malaking pinggan ng mainit na kanin. Yum!