Let’s be honest here, diets are really, really hard! So coming across a life hack that can improve your health, help you lose weight and tastes amazing is nothing short of miraculous. What are we talking? The miraculous little mushroom!

It can potentially lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, balance blood sugar and lower cancer risk. The trick is to simply mix finely chopped fresh mushrooms into any of your favourite minced meat dishes (beef, chicken, lamb, turkey and even fish!) in a 50/50 ratio.

The only thing you lose is kilojoules, but you add in so much extra flavour! Try it in Mushroom Chicken Parmesan Hand Pies https://bit.ly/2uZvwF9. #TheBlendTrend #blendability #meatandmushrooms #loseweight #betterhealth

 

Mushroom Chicken Parmesan Hand Pies

Ingredients

CRUST

1½ cups flour

½tsp fine sea salt

½tsp garlic powder

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed

6tbsp ice cold water

1 large egg

1tbsp water

FILLING

225g white Button mushrooms

225g ground chicken

1tsp fine sea salt

½tsp dried basil

½tsp garlic powder

½tsp onion powder

¼tsp ground black pepper

1 cup chopped, fresh spinach

½ cup napolitana pasta sauce, plus extra for serving

½ cup shredded Parmesan

¾ cup shredded mozzarella

 

Method

1 Crust: To make crust, place flour, salt and garlic powder in bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few short times to mix ingredients. Add butter and pulse until it is evenly distributed in pea-size pieces, about three to four, 15-second pulses. With the processor on low, add water 1tbsp at a time until dough comes together in a ball in the center of the bowl. Remove dough and place on a sheet of plastic wrap. Flatten into a disk, wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2 Filling: To make the filling, add mushrooms to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Blend together mushrooms and ground chicken in a medium bowl. Cook in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until chicken is no longer pink, about 7 minutes. Drain any excess liquid. Return pan to heat and stir in salt, basil, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper. Stir in spinach and cook for about 1 more minute, just until it wilts. Transfer filling to a bowl. Stir in pasta sauce and ¼ cup Parmesan. Let cool completely.

3 Preheat the oven to 200°C. When dough is ready, roll the disk out on a floured surface to approximately ½cm thickness. Cut in circles about 10cm in diameter. Stretch circle slightly and lay it on a baking sheet, 5 circles to a standard baking sheet. Working one pie at a time, spoon about 2tbsp of filling, allowing excess liquid to drain back into bowl. Place filling in the center of the circle. Top with a sprinkle of mozzarella. Stir together egg and water, and brush all edges of circle with it. Carefully fold crust over to create a half moon and press the edge together to seal. It will be a little messy and some edges may tear. Simply patch them up as best you can and wipe away any sauce that leaks onto the baking sheet. Repeat for remaining pies.

4 Brush pies with remaining egg wash and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes, until edges of crust are browned and cheese begins to bubble out at edges. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving with extra pasta sauce for dipping.