Eatable Elldrew

Deliciously Simple Chicken & Leek Pie

chicken & leek pie
Elldrew’s legendary chicken & leek pie

It’s looking very autumnal out there so time for us to share one of our favourite winter warmers: our chicken & leek pie. This recipe is not only cost effective and simple to make, it will wow friends and family as it’s absolutely delicious. Perfect straight out of the oven on pie night, or heated up the next day after a busy day in the office. Credit to Mamma Elldrew for the original chicken & leek pie recipe, although we’ve adapted and changed it to suit our taste buds. A must for your pie recipe book, so go ahead and enjoy it!

Total cooking time: 60 mins

INGREDIENTS:

  • 600g of diced skinless chicken breast fillets
  • 2-3 leeks, cleaned and sliced
  • 2 tins (approx 600g) of condensed chicken soup
  • 1 packet of ready-rolled puff pastry
  • A couple of glugs of white wine
  • 1 tbsp of mustard powder
  • Cooking oil or butter (to coat base of pan)
  • Salt & pepper
  • 1 egg to glaze

RECIPE:

  1. Heat a fan oven to 220 degrees.
  2. Sweat the leeks with some salt, pepper and a glug of white wine in a deep covered frying pan, for ~5 mins, then remove.
  3. In the same pan, add the oil (or butter, which adds a creamy richness to the dish) and brown the chicken pieces.
  4. Add the soup, leeks and the rest of the wine and mustard powder.
  5. Stir well and simmer on a low heat for around 20 minutes to allow the flavours to develop. Add a little extra salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
  6. Transfer the chicken mixture to an oven proof pie dish.
  7. Roll out the pastry and cover the dish ensuring the sides are well sealed. Decorate as much as you like, but put 2-3 small slits in the pastry to allow the pie to breathe whilst baking.
  8. Beat the egg and use a pastry brush to glaze the top and sides of the pastry.
  9. Pop the pie into the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 200 degrees (the hotter starting temperature will give the pastry a nice boost to help it rise).
  10. Keep an eye on the pie so it doesn’t burn, and when it’s golden brown, after approximately 30 mins, remove from the oven.
  11. Service with beans, mash or a side dish of your choice.

Other considerations:

  • Mama Elldrew’s original chicken & leek pie recipe used shop-bought cooked whole chicken, shredded, instead of the raw diced chicken.
  • Both the white wine and mustard powder have been added to the original recipe to enhance the flavours, so could be removed or substituted to your flavour preference.
  • You can use shortcrust instead of puff pastry – whatever you fancy.
  • You can make individual smaller pies for more personalised servings, but we tend to make one big dish in the centre of the table and then fight over the crusty pastry edges.
  • If you want to prepare the filling in advance, or day before, keep refrigerated and when you’re ready to cook the pie, top with the pastry and follow the steps from there.

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