This Chicken and Leek Pie is a variation on Basic Chicken Casserole. Add leeks, bacon and puff pastry for an easy midweek pie.
Chicken and Leek Pie
Life is too short to make puff pastry. (I've even heard Mary Berry say on TV that she buys puff pastry - so there's hope for all of us.) However, some ready-made pastry is better than others and I do like to minimise the alien ingredients in the food I eat, so I always buy an all-butter variety. Sainsbury's has a version and Jus-Rol is very good.
Ready-made puff pastry
If you are buying ready-rolled (and why wouldn't you?) just make sure that you buy the right shape for your dish. I once bought a rather superior brand only to find when I got it home that it was rolled into a circle rather than the rectangle that I wanted. Actually, there is a reason to buy it in a piece, and that's if you aren't going to use all the pastry at once, but I, rather lazily I admit, just cut off the extra and roll it up to use for Mince Puff Pies or something similar.
Secrets of Success
Keep the pastry cold
A little tip for using ready-made puff pastry: use it straight from the fridge. The instructions may tell you to leave it out of the fridge for 10 minutes, but I find the pastry gets very soft, very quickly and starts to stretch or tear.
Egg-wash the pastry
I don't always use an egg-wash before cooking, but it makes a real difference, as you can see from the photo. For an everyday family meal, I often don't bother, but I'm almost persuaded by this lovely colour.
Chicken and Leek Pie is one of four variations on the main recipe Basic Chicken Casserole. Other recipes are Chicken Cobbler, Moroccan Chicken and Paprika Chicken Casserole.
Recipe
Chicken and Leek Pie
Ingredients
For the chicken and leek filling:
- 1 portion of Basic Chicken Casserole
- 2 large leeks
- 6 rashers of streaky bacon
- 2 teaspoons oil (10ml)
- 2 teaspoons garam masala, or mild curry powder - (10ml)
For the top:
- 1 pack of ready-rolled puff pastry e.g. Jus Rol Butter Puff Pastry
- 1 egg optional
Equipment
Instructions
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C fan/ gas mark 7/ 425°F
- Trim the leeks and remove the outer leavesYou will be left with about 250g leeks
- Slice into ½ cm rounds and wash well
- Cut the bacon rashers into pieces - about 2cm long
For the chicken and leek filling:
- Put the oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high heat
- Put the leeks and bacon into the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring to break up the leeksThe point is to soften the leeks, cook the bacon, and drive off the excess water
- Stir in the garam masala or curry powder and cook for 1 minute
- Add the chicken casserole to the pan and bring to the boil
- Lower the heat and cook for about 5 minutes to heat the chicken
- Pour the mixture into the pie dish
- Unroll the pastry and drape over the pie. Trim the pastry as needed and use any excess for decoration
- Brush the beaten egg over the pastry to give a golden finishUse the excess egg in scrambled egg, quiche, cheese sauce (or give it to the dog)
- Cook for 25 minutes until golden brown
- Serve immediately.
Notes
EverydayCooks tips:
- Don't take the pastry out of the fridge until you need it as it softens very quickly at room temperature
- Serve with mashed potato and carrots for a more substantial meal
Jessie Scherf says
I have recently made chicken stock from 3 carcasses plus some chicken bones. After I had removed the bones and veg, I was left with a couple of cups of chicken. Can I use this in a recipe (say rissoles or pie) - I HATE the thought that it is simply thrown out!
Elizabeth says
Just delicious!
Susie Collings says
🙂