This pie is a winner! I improvised a bit too (as I normally do with recipes!)…..added a handful of grated tasty cheese, seasoning and home grown parsley and chives (chopped up) to the mix. Will include in the method below when I added these extra ingredients – think it gave it a bit more taste. My pie dish is 22cm diameter. Be enough for 2-4 people depending how hungry they are – be warned it is a yummy pie so you might get some takers for seconds!!
You could change/add the filling with other ingredients too for this pie recipe with the chicken – I was thinking maybe some mushrooms, corn, and mum said peas and leeks are always great in pies! (so on the right track with leeks in this pie!). Mum made a beef and burgundy pie the other day she tells me – will track that recipe down too! Also forgot to mention this pie only has pastry at the top too (less fattening!) and was great. I might though however try pastry in the base of the pie next time to try the difference (however will then have to go for a job to burn off extra pastry!).
Home grown ingredients I used for this recipe – parsley, chives, egg (got my minimum 3 ingredients goal!). Growing leeks for the next pie!! (at least they like all our rain!).
Have added my photos again for this recipe – will make you want to go and cook it now!
Ingredients
- 1 tbs butter
- 700g skinless chicken thigh fillets, trimmed of fat and cut into chunks (depends on the size of your pie dish, think I only had 500g was heaps)
- 2 leeks, trimmed and thickly sliced (again depends on the size of your pie dish, I used one big leek was heaps)
- 2 tbs plain flour
- 1 1/2 cups reduced fat milk (I used a bit more – get the mixture to the consistency you like)
- 1 continental stock pot chicken (or chicken powder stock, couple good teaspoons be fine)
- 1 sheet ready-rolled short crust pastry
- 1 egg (beat for glazing)
Method
1. Preheat oven 200 degrees
2. In a heavy frying pan, melt butter and add chicken. Cook till golden, set aside in a bowl.
3. In same pan cook the leeks without colour but until softened (I added seasoning when cooking the leeks)
4. Add flour and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add milk and chicken stock stirring continuously until slightly thickened.
4. Add chicken back into the pan, reduce heat, simmer gently for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked. (I added cheese, herbs and bit more milk at end – got a nice consistency not too dry or thick).
5. Transfer mixture to lightly greased pie dish. Glaze around rim (and outside of pie dish!) with a bit of beaten egg with pastry brush.
6. Lay the pastry sheet over the dish and mould it around so it holds in place . Brush pastry with beaten egg.
Tips:
– don’t trim your pastry too much around the edges of your dish as the pastry will shrink, I just push moulded mine in around the edges to seal it. Decorate as you wish with left over pastry as I did. Make a slit in the middle of your pastry to let the air out while cooking. I did make a slit in the middle but when it cooked it sealed up, which I had to cut a slit in the pastry while cooking to let the air out or it may explode! (hence why my pastry looked like it sagged a bit when cooked but was fine).
– give any left over egg give it to your cat or dog they will love you!
7. Bake pie for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden brown (as my oven is hopeless mine was in longer – when you get a nice golden colour on your pastry all over your pie is done!).
8. Serve up to your guests and they will be back for more!!! Enjoy!!
Pie ready for the oven!
Cooked beautifully!!
A Vegie Patch 