Chicken & Leek Pie - Recipe!

My family love a good pie, along with mashed potato and lots of gravy. I have this Chicken & Leek Pie recipe to share with you which is a fantastic idea for a family dinner! Topped with a quick short crust pastry this recipe can be adapted to suit whatever veg you have on hand and is made with only 5 pieces of kitchen equipment making it ideal for a warming mid week meal. 

Makes 1 pie - serves 2 adults and 2 children.

Prep Time: 20 minutes - Cook Time: 40 minutes.

For the pastry:

200g of plain flour.

100g of unsalted butter.

2 tablespoons of cold water.

For the filling:

500g of chicken thigh, cut into chunks.

2 leeks, peeled, halved and sliced.

500ml of milk.

1 tablespoon of dried tarragon.

1 teaspoon of salt.

1/2 a teaspoon of pepper.

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter.

2 tablespoons of flour.

 1 egg yolk, beaten, for egg washing.

Equipment:

A large mixing bowl 

A large pan 

A rolling Pin

A chopping board 

A 24x18cm Pie Dish 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan).

Prepare your pastry by rubbing the flour and butter together in a bowl between your fingertips until a sandy texture is achieved. Add in the water and bring together to form dough.

Tip the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge.

To make the filling, place the chicken thigh chunks, sliced leeks, tarragon, salt and pepper into a pan and pour over the milk.

Place over a medium heat and leave to simmer for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, combine your butter and flour in a bowl to make a thick paste.

Once the chicken is cooked, drop in nuggets of the combined flour and butter, stirring constantly until thoroughly incorporated and the filling has thickened.

Transfer the filling to your pie dish and set to one side.

Remove your pastry from the fridge, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until about 5mm in thickness, then drape over the pie dish, trim the edges and crimp with your fingers or a fork.

Cut two slits in the centre of the pie lid, then brush with the beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with flaked salt.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden and serve with chunky chips and peas.

Feel free to switch out leeks in the pie filling for peas or whatever veg you have available and if you want to make a vegetarian version of this pie switch out the chicken for a veggie meat alternative.  

This recipe from the Easy Peasy Baking campaign, launched by UK Flour Millers, making baking simple. You can find more Easy Peasy Baking recipes and information on the campaign over on the Fab Flour website.