Recipe of the week: Easy Peasy Chicken & Leek Pie
I remember my Gran slaving away for hours making pies. All be them delicious, we simply don’t seem to find the time nowadays. This recipe is a great way to enjoy a good home-made pie with some time-saving tactics. Don’t worry the taste has NOT been compromised! This easy peasy pie is a treat for the taste buds! Plus, as we’re just covering the top with pastry it’s not too stodgy. After all, who doesn’t love a good old pie?
Dish Facts
Serves: 4 (with a side dish)
Costs: £8 (approx)
Prep time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 30-35 mins (keep checking how brown the pastry is)
Oven temperature: 200 degrees C (gas mark 6)
Healthy switch: swop cream for crème fraiche
How fattening is this? (1 low, 3 high): **
Difficulty (1 low, 3 high): *
WOW factor (1 low, 3 high):***
You’ll need: a basting brush, a rolling pin and a pie dish
ingredients
- 600g of diced chicken
- 200ml single cream
- 2 leeks
- 400g of condensed chicken soup
- 250g (half a pack) of shortcrust, ready to roll pastry
- Salt & pepper
- 1 egg (to glaze)
Optional
- Add white wine to the sauce for a more sophisticated pie.
- You can line the pie dish with pastry for rather than just topping the pie as we have done here.
- Try using puff pastry instead of short-crust.
- Experiment with adding different vegetables of your choice.
- Serve with a braised red-cabbage for a tasty treat.
- Use individual pie bowls to change the presentation.
Method
- Sweat the leeks in a frying pan for 5 mins then remove them from the heat.
- Brown off the chicken in a deep frying pan before adding the soup, single cream and leeks.
- Season to taste.
- Simmer for 20mins to allow the flavours to develop.
- In the meantime flour a board/worktop and roll out half the packet of the shortcrust pastry to a thin, even consistency.
- When the chicken mixture is ready put it all in the pie dish.
- Use the sheet of pastry you rolled to cover the mixture and trim the edges away to create a neatly covered, presentable pie. Put three short slits in the middle of the pie top to allow it to breath when cooking.
- Crack the egg into a bowl and use you basting brush to glaze the pastry top all over. This will make the pie turn brown and shiny so not only will it look divine, it will have a nice crisp texture too!
- Keep an eye on the pie and when it’s golden brown after approximately 30 mins remove from the oven and serve with a side dish/garnish or on its own.
And there you have it; an Easy Peasy Chicken and Leek Pie that will knock your socks off!
So tell us about your favourite pie fillings today!