There’s nothing quite like a hearty winter warming pie and one of my favourites is a chicken and leek one at that.
You can make this in several ways and even can be done when you come home from work if you had a smallest amount of prep done from the night before. Those vital five minutes can be the difference.
Be sure to put in what you like and leave out what you don’t but here’s a starting point anyway. Nothing loves chicken more than thyme leaves so be sure to add them to your dish during cooking.
Creamy chicken pie
WHAT YOU NEED
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 Spanish onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic sliced
4 boned chicken thighs cubed
200g leeks sliced, white only
2tbls flour
150ml dry white wine
1pint chicken stock
200ml double cream
2 tsp English mustard
Salt and black pepper to taste
50g mixed chopped tarragon and flat leaf parsley
Fresh thyme leaves
500g ready rolled puff pastry
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon of double cream
WHAT TO DO
Preheat oven to 180ºC / 350ºF. In a medium sized saucepan melt the butter and oil then fry the onions and garlic until they start to colour, about 10 minutes. Then add the chicken and cook for a further 5 minutes until the chicken is sealed. Add the leeks and flour stirring continually until they are well combined. Add the wine and chicken stock slowly until the sauce has thickened
Add the cream and mustard and then season. Take off the heat and stir in the herbs. Place the pie filling into a medium sized pie dish. Mix the egg yolk and cream together and then brush around the pie dish. Cover with pastry and cut around the sides with a knife
Brush the remaining egg mix over the pie. Poke a couple of small holes in the pastry to let out the steam. Cook in the oven for 25 minutes, remove from the oven and serve
