Chicken, Bacon And Leek Pie

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Another great recipe from the folks at Innocent. This hearty pie is a great autumnal dish that all the family will enjoy. 

For the flakiest, crispiest pastry in the world: keep it cold and handle as little as possible. 

Serves 4

What You’ll need

  • 2 leeks, trimmed, washed and roughly chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 8 chicken thighs, skinned, boned and cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, roughly chopped
  • ½ a small butternut squash, deseeded, peeled and cut into small chunks
  • A few sprigs of thyme
  • 2 tablespoons plain flour
  • 200ml chicken stock
  • 1 x 500g packet of puff pastry
  • 1 large free-range egg
  • A splash of milk

What to do:

1) Preheat your oven to 190/375/gas mark 5.

2) Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry the leeks and garlic over a medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until the leeks are soft. Remove them from the pan and set aside, then put the pan back on the heat.

3) Add some more oil to the pan and add the chicken and bacon. Cook until the chicken starts to brown, then add the leeks squash, thyme and flour and stir for a few more minutes. Then add the stock and simmer for 10 minutes.

4) Meanwhile, dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the pastry, using a rolling pin, to about 5mm thickness and big enough to fit over your pie dish. Beat the egg and milk together and place to one side. Tip the chicken filling into the pie dish and brush the edge of the fish with the egg mixture. Then roll the pastry around the rolling pin and drape it over the top.

5) Use a fork to press the edges of the pastry to the side of the dish, then trim off any excess and brush the top of your pie with the egg mixture. Make a little hole in the middle to allow some air to escape, and use any leftover pastry to decorate the top with leaves, shapes or the names of all the pie eaters, remembering to brush any decorations with egg mix.

6) Bake in the oven for about 45 to 50 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. To balance out this treat of a tea, serve with a big scoop of mash and some steamed broccoli.

7) Chicken and Ham pieYou can also make the pie up to the stage just before you brush with egg, then allow to cool completely and freeze – it will keep for a few months.

Recipe from ‘Hungry’, a book by Innocent

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