Chicken and spinach pie

We spent this afternoon scooting round Jesmond Dene like lunatics - pushing me round on the scooter made you laugh like a drain.

But then it got dark, so we came home and made pie for tea, turning the kitchen into a glorious fug of warmth.

You'll need:

leftover chicken from a roast (doesn't need to be a huge amount)
a couple of small onions, sliced
a clove of garlic, crushed
2/3 bag of spinach
a couple of hundred ml of milk
a good-sized knob of butter
a tablespoon of plain flour
some grated nutmeg
lots of black pepper

shortcrust pastry

Turn the oven on to about 200 degrees C.

Pull your chicken off the bones, and cut into chunks. Stick in the bottom of your pie dish.

Fry the onions and garlic in a little olive oil until they're translucent. Add the spinach, and stir until it's all wilted (usually takes a couple of minutes, if that). Transfer the mixture to the pie dish, and mix in with the chicken. Season with lots of black pepper, and maybe a little salt.

Using the same frying pan, throw your knob of butter in, and let it melt. Add the flour, and cook for a couple of minutes. Gradually add the milk, letting it get absorbed by the flour each time. Keep stirring...

Grate in some nutmeg. Stir a bit more.

Once the sauce is nice and thick, pour over the mixture in the pie dish. Top with the shortcrust pastry, and make whatever fancy designs you like on the top (we had a 'M' today), not forgetting to leave a slit for the steam to escape.

Bake in the oven for 30 mins, or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve with some nice veg (we had broccoli, peas and sweetcorn today...).