Midweek Chicken Pie

 

Serves 4

 

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 knob of butter

4 rashers of streaky bacon, cut into small pieces

500g / 1lb 2oz boned and skinned chicken pieces (thigh or breast)

2 leeks, trimmed and sliced

2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

2 sticks celery, finely sliced

Small handful thyme leaves only

1½ tbsp flour

100ml / 3 ½fl oz dry white wine

200ml / 7fl oz pint milk

Salt and pepper

1 beaten egg to glaze

500g pkt puff pastry

 

 

Preheat the oven to 220C /fan 200C / gas 7

 

Place the bacon in a pan and cook over a low heat until crispy, remove from the pan and wipe clean.  Add a tbsp of olive oil and a knob of butter to the pan and add the chicken, leeks, carrots, celery and thyme and cook slowly on the hob for 15 minutes.  Turn the heat up add the flour and keep stirring for a couple of minutes before adding the wine, bacon, a 100ml / 3 ½fl oz of water and milk.  Season with salt and pepper, then lower the heat to a simmer for 30-40 minutes.  At this point you can let it cool and keep it in the fridge for a couple of days if you wish – it can also be eaten as a stew.  Pour the chicken mixture into a pie dish.

 

Roll out the pastry a little large than the pie dish.  Cut roughly round the pastry using the pie dish as a template Brush the rim of the dish with a little egg, then cut thin strips of pastry and stick them on the rim, like a picture frame. Lift the rest of the pastry onto the pie and press down to the edges to stick. Trim the excess and crimp the edges to seal well. Make a small cross in the centre with a knife to help steam escape, and roll the trimmings into leaves, if you like. Stick these all over the pie, again using egg, to decorate. Just before cooking egg wash the top of the pastry and cook for 30-40 minutes until the pastry is golden on top.

 

To get ahead: The pie can be completed ready to cook and stored in the fridge up to 2 days ahead.

 

To freeze:  The completed but uncooked pie can be frozen up to 1 month ahead with or without the pastry top.  Defrost in the fridge before completing

Note: Other vegetables can be added in instead of ones recommended and if you can’t get hold of puff pastry just make and use a simple shortcrust of 250g plain flour /1 tsp salt / 150g diced cold hard butter whizzed in a food processor with 1 egg and enough milk to make a pastry dough.