Meat mains
Chicken and leek pies
Packed with creamy leeks and flavoured with tarragon and white wine, this is a delectable and heartening dinner. You can vary the veg and meat, substituting some of the leeks for mushrooms, adding in a handful of frozen peas or sweetcorn, or switching the chicken for turkey if you have some left over. This recipe makes 4 individual pies, but you could make one larger one - just cook the pie for a little longer.
Ingredients
- 60g plain flour
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 500g chicken breast fillets, cut into 2cm dice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 25g butter
- 2 leeks, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 80ml water or white wine
- 250ml chicken stock
- 125ml cream
- 1 tsp tarragon
- small handful each fresh parsley and chives, chopped
- 300g puff or shortcrust pastry
- 2 egg yolks, beaten
Method
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.
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Step 2
Place flour, peppers and salt in a bowl and stir. Add chicken and toss well. Shake off excess flour. Heat oil and butter in a pan over a high heat and stir fry chicken pieces until lightly browned and sealed. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
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Step 3
Place leeks and garlic in the pan and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until soft or wilted. Add wine and boil for 1 minute. Add stock and cream and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Add chicken and herbs, cook for a minute longer then remove from heat and cool.
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Step 4
Roll out pastry to 4mm thick. Cut pastry to line bases, sides and tops of 4, 9½ cm pie tins. Spoon filling in pastry cases and brush edges with egg yolks. Place tops on pies and seal with a fork. Brush tops with egg yolks and make three piercings with a sharp knife in the top of each pie. Bake on the bottom oven shelf for 35 minutes or until golden brown.