Chicken and leek pie

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This comforting savory pie has a lovely mix of mellow flavors and crisp pastry top.

Prep Time15

Cook Time45

Total Time1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: British

Servings: approx

Calories: 877kcal

Author: Caroline

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Ingredients

1 lb diced chicken thighs, breast or a mix as you prefer
¼ teaspoon salt approximately
¼ teaspoon pepper approximately
2 leeks 2 leeks gives approx 1 cup once chopped
1 clove garlic
1 ½ tablespoon butter
¼ cup dry white wine
2 tablespoon all purpose flour plain flour
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoon chopped tarragon fresh (see notes)
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup sour cream
1 sheet puff pastry
1 egg for eggwash - won't need all

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Have a baking dish around 10in x 7in (25cm x 18cm) and at least 1 ½in (4cm) deep ready - you can also use other shapes but with roughly the same volume and similar size on top to keep a similar ratio of crust to filling (if anything, slightly smaller and deeper is better but not wider as the filling will be too shallow).
Trim and dice the chicken, if not already cut up, into roughly bite sized pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper all over. Trim the ends off the leeks then cut them into medium slices, cutting any large slices in half. Finely chop the garlic.
Warm roughly half of the butter in a medium-large skillet/frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the chicken - most likely, you are best to add in two batches so the pan isn't overcrowded. You want to sear the chicken all over to get a nice gently brown sear. Remove the chicken from the pan once seared and set aside, and cook next batch and set that aside as well.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the rest of the butter then, once melted, the leeks. Cook the leeks, stirring now and then, until it becomes nicely soft. Take care as leeks can easily brown if your heat is too high or you don't have enough fat - they are more delicate to cook than onions. So reduce heat or add additional butter if needed.
Once the leeks are soft, add the garlic, cook briefly, then deglaze with wine to get all the flavor from the pan into the sauce. Sprinkle in the flour to absorb the excess fat and stir to mix in smoothly. Add the stock, mustard and tarragon (or other herb, if you prefer). Add back the chicken, mix through and cook briefly. Stir in the sour cream off the heat and set aside.
Place a baking dish upside down on the puff pastry and cut a piece just slightly larger than the dish - I ended up using around ⅔ of the sheet.
Fill the baking dish with the filling mixture then top with the piece of pastry. Fold in the edges to give a double layer around the edge but still with the pastry going all the way to the edge of the dish. Press the edges down with a fork to give a pattern and seal it against the dish.
Cut a couple slits in the middle of the pastry to give ventilation for steam as it cooks. Whisk the egg and brush the top with the eggwash to help the pastry to brown as it bakes.
Place in the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and crisp. Let it rest a couple minutes before cutting open and serving, getting a good balance of pastry and filling.

Video

Notes

This can serve two, generously, just as it is, or 3 or 4 smaller portions with sides alongside it.

Here I added tarragon which pairs well with the chicken and leek, but if you prefer, you can use other herbs (or none at all). Parsley and thyme would also work well.

Nutrition

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