Celebrate British Pie Week with the perfect comfort food – chicken and leek pie. A delicious creamy filling topped with crisp puff pastry, that is easy to put together. Serve with mashed potatoes and plenty of fresh green vegetables. Delicious!
 

 
 
Serves 6-8

Prep: 25 mins + 15 mins chilling

Cook: 45 mins

Tips

To prepare ahead: Make your pie filling up to point 7, then chill overnight in the refrigerator.

Pastry topping: Makes one large pie or 6-8 individual mini pies. You can bake the pastry toppings separately if you prefer (as we did here) as it helps to keep them crisp.

Versatile pie filling: You could make extra quantities of the chicken pie filling, as it’s also delicious with baked potato or crusty bread, and it freezes well.

Equipment

Oven proof pie dish (2.5 litre)
Frying pan
Saucepan
 

Chicken & leek pie recipe

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 medium leeks, washed, trimmed, halved lengthways & sliced

200g lardons (or about 6 rashers of back bacon cut into small pieces)

4 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

4 skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

A few thyme sprigs, leaves picked

100g butter

300g button mushrooms, sliced

1 shallot, finely chopped

150ml white wine

150ml chicken stock

Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked

200ml crème fraiche

½ lemon, juiced

375g pack ready-rolled puff pastry sheets (all-butter is best for flavour)

1 medium egg

Salt & black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion. garlic and leeks and cook for about 5 minutes until soft. Season well, then transfer the vegetables to your pie dish.
2. In the same pan, fry the lardons for a couple of minutes.
3. Then add the chicken pieces and thyme leaves, cook for about 5 minutes, turning them so they are nicely browned.  Transfer the meat to the pie dish.
4. Add a small knob of butter to the pan and sauté the mushrooms for a couple of minutes. Then add to the pie dish.
5. Now make the sauce.
   Melt a knob of butter in a saucepan over a low heat, then add the shallot and cook gently for a few minutes until softened. Add the wine, turn up the heat and bubble until reduced by about two-thirds. Add the stock and bubble until reduced by half.
6. Add the crème fraiche and bring to the boil, then simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and the chopped parsley. Transfer the sauce to the pie dish and mix everything well.  Set aside to cool slightly.
7. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7.
8. Roll out your pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface and cut out a piece large enough to cover your pie dish.
   Place the pastry over the filling and make a small hole in the centre to allow the steam to escape. Chill the pie for at least 15 minutes.
9. Beat the egg with a pinch of salt, then brush over the pastry.
10. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
    (Bake for 20-25 minutes if you are making individual pies).

More pie recipes:

Bacon & egg pie

Turkey pithivier