INGREDIENTS
- 1 stock cube or ‘pot’
- 4 chicken breasts
- 2 leeks
- 10 g (0.4oz) butter
- 1 egg
- 1 shortcrust pastry sheet, ready to use
For the Bechamel
- 500 ml (17.6fl oz) semi-skimmed milk
- 25 g (0.9oz) flour
- 25 g (0.9oz) butter
- 1 stock cube or ‘pot’
Directions for Chicken and leek pie recipe
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas Mark 4.
- Prepare 500ml of béchamel (white sauce) until creamy. Chop the white parts of the leeks. Keep the pieces quite large so they have some texture. Otherwise they just disappear in the sauce.
- Melt 10g butter in a frying pan. Cook the leeks without colour in the butter until softened and most of the liquid is evaporated.
- Cut each chicken breast into three pieces. I always keep my chicken quite chunky for the simple reason that I want it only half-cooked when I assemble the pie. Smaller pieces will dry out. My way, the pie and the chicken finish cooking simultaneously.
- Pouch the chicken pieces for approx 10mins in the béchamel sauce – dissolve one further stock cube/pot into the sauce. Keep stirring until the chicken is half-cooked.
- Transfer the chicken, béchamel and leek mix to a pie dish.
- Roll out the shortcrust pastry. Lay the pastry over the dish and mould it around the side of the dish so it holds in place. It helps to glaze the edge of the dish with beaten egg beforehand to help it stick. Brush the pastry lid with the egg wash. This will help give it some colour in the oven. Don’t be tempted to trim the pastry because it will shrink in the oven and if the pastry shrinks, the pie will leak.
