Chicken & leek pie

This has to be the best comfort food yet and it's perfect for entertaining

Recipe uploaded by

Good Food

28 ratings 5

Recipe by Good Food

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Difficulty and servings

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Ready in under 3 hours, plus chilling

Put the chicken into a deep pan that is just large enough to hold it quite snugly. Pour in enough water to half cover the bird, then tip in the peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme, onion and celery. Add the salt and bring to the boil on the hob, then reduce the heat, cover tightly and simmer for 1-11⁄4 hours until tender.
Transfer the chicken to a plate. Strain 425ml/3⁄4 pint of the stock into a measuring jug (top up with water if you need to). Strip the meat off the chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces and put in a 1.7 litre/3 pint pie dish.
Put the eggs in boiling water and boil for 6 minutes. Drain, cool them under cold water and remove the shells. Quarter the eggs and nestle them in the pie dish among the chicken pieces.
Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan and fry the bacon until crisp. Add the leeks and cook for 2 minutes until softened. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the chicken stock a third at a time, stirring continuously and making sure the sauce is thick and smooth before adding the next batch. Stir in the mustard, crème fraîche and parsley, then add a squeeze of lemon juice and black pepper to taste. Add salt if needed. Spoon over the chicken and leave to cool.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220C/Gas 7/fan 200C. Reserve a quarter of the pastry for decoration and roll out the remainder to a shape about 5cm/2in larger than the top of the pie dish, then cut a 2.5cm/1in strip from all round the edge. Brush the edge of the dish with water and stick the pastry strip to it. Brush the strip with water. Flip the pastry lid over the rolling pin, lift it up and unroll over the pie. Press the edge on to the pastry strip to seal, and trim any excess with a sharp knife.
Tap the blade of a small sharp knife all along the outside edge of the pastry (this helps the edge to rise during cooking), then flute it using the back of the knife. Make a hole in the lid centre with the tip of the knife, to allow steam to escape as the pie bakes.
Roll out the pastry you put aside earlier. Cut 8 long strips each about 1cm/1⁄2in wide, and two more strips each about 4cm/11⁄2in wide. Cut the wider strips diagonally to make eight diamond leaf shapes. Mark the veins of the leaves with the tip of a sharp knife. Brush the pastry lid with beaten egg, then lay the 8 thin strips on top, as in the picture. Brush again with egg and arrange the leaves in the centre, between the strips. Brush with egg.
Chill the pie for 15 mins, if you have time, to set the pastry. (Can be made a day ahead up to this point. Keep chilled and add 4-5 extra minutes at baking time.) Bake for 30 - 35 miutes until the pastry is crisp, puffed up and deep golden brown.)

Per serving

762 kcalories, protein 55g, carbohydrate 27g, fat 49 g, saturated fat 24g, fibre 2g, salt 2,78 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2002.

Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

Gaby

2007-12-28 21:13:33.288176

Gaby rated and commented on this recipe

Good for using left over roast chicken.

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woozle

2008-01-19 08:55:21.147162

woozle rated and commented on this recipe

This has become one of our favourite dishes in the house. I do not use left over roast though, I tend to use 2 free-range chicken breasts which I cook with all the stock ingredients then carry on with the pie recipe in the same way.

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pennyh30

2008-02-11 10:20:58.497591

pennyh30 commented on this recipe

This is a wonderful dish which is always eaten in full! I love using a whole chicken rather than just breasts as you get all the different textures of the meat. Quite often I use pancetta rather than bacon and a gutsy smooth mustard rather than whole grain - just a slight twist. Cook it - well worth the time

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pennyh30

2008-02-11 10:21:36.913716

pennyh30 rated this recipe

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Tasha

2008-02-14 16:16:41.99102

Tasha rated and commented on this recipe

WOW a really tasty pie. I made it with four chicken breasts as I did not have a whole chicken. I cooked it when my daughter and grandson came for a visit, and my daughter took my copy of the recipe home with her so I have to print it again as I will be making this quite often.

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iketla

2008-04-10 08:52:35.320381

iketla commented on this recipe

Superb and very easy - I used boneless chicken thighs

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Jo

2008-04-24 12:41:26.28263

Jo commented on this recipe

I was expecting great things from this pie because of previous comments, but must admit that I was disappointed. I used chicken breasts rather than a cooked chicken, so whether this made a difference I don't know. I found it very fiddly to make - not the thing to try when you are in a hurry. My guests enjoyed it, as did my family, so I will try it again and see how it goes!

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Alex87

2008-06-04 13:12:55.222784

Alex87 commented on this recipe

Does anyone think it would be possible to cook the pie filling (minus the eggs), freeze it up in separate batches, and then also freeze the pie lids (uncooked) and then defrost it all, put it together, and then whack it in the oven until pastry lid is cooked? Me and the bf will never manage a whole chicken, but it is so much cheaper than using individual breasts. I might just try it and see :)

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LBanks

2008-07-21 19:47:49.3438

LBanks rated and commented on this recipe

This went down a storm particularly with my fussy 75-year-old uncle! I must admit it was a quite time consuming and definately one for special occasions only. I used two chicken breasts and 4 chicken thighs instead of the whole chicken. If I was to make this for the family again and to cut down time I would just use cooked chicken, miss out the eggs and use mash potatoes as a topping.

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Caroline

2008-11-21 20:48:47.611064

Caroline rated and commented on this recipe

pretty yummy actually. I wasn't sure about the eggs in it but it was delicious. I added some white wine into the sauce which worked well

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Michele

2009-02-12 14:11:32.454702

Michele commented on this recipe

Delicious and great to make in advance for guests. It doesn't actually require that much attention or effort if you use shop-bought puff pastry, as most of the cooking time stated is for the pie in the oven or cooking the chicken on the hob. Would definitely make again, though not for an everyday family meal.

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Nicola

2009-02-16 14:52:04.727926

Nicola rated and commented on this recipe

Yum, I love this pie! I made it when a friend came for dinner, and she was very impressed and asked for seconds. I don't normally roast a chicken - I'll normally boil a whole chicken instead, so this would be a good way for me to use up any leftover chicken and also the stock. i boiled the chicken the night before, so it wasn't too time consuming on the day. I'm sure it would work just as well with left over roast chicken though. Also, i missed out the eggs, because I didn't really feel it needed boiled eggs in it!

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Lucy

2009-03-17 19:08:28.021345

Lucy commented on this recipe

Looking forward to making this recipe but like the last person, Im really not sure about the eggs. Wanted to ask those that did include the eggs, did it make the pie, or would you leave them out? For children, I wonder if this might put them off?

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Laura

2009-03-24 17:38:44.301302

Laura rated this recipe

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larder

2009-04-15 11:58:09.608166

larder rated and commented on this recipe

delicious and so easy to make! my boyfriend couldn't get enough of it and we have to stop ourselves from finishing everything in 1 sitting!

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Kerry

2009-05-02 15:57:07.181413

Kerry rated and commented on this recipe

I love making pies and this is the best recipe I've found. It's so tasty and pretty simple to make. I left out the eggs though, I just didn't fancy them in the recipe. Also good to use in smaller, individual pie dishes for dinner parties.

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madashatters

2009-08-30 20:10:21.138773

madashatters commented on this recipe

easy, delicious and moreish. enjoyed by all and a definate one to be repeated

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jennyhart

2009-09-27 09:00:15.21731

jennyhart rated this recipe

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ali

2009-11-01 12:44:20.995602

ali rated and commented on this recipe

This has become a firm favourite. I don't use eggs and tend to use the left overs from a roast chicken. Depending on what's in the fridge I sometimes substitute cream or marscapone for the creme fraiche. It freezes well so I often freeze it individual portions and then top individual pie dishes with the puff pastry lids. Yum!

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Steph

2009-11-02 17:06:27.500607

Steph rated and commented on this recipe

Made this recipe for a family gathering and it was a huge hit, it sounds a bit weird with the eggs i know, but they really do make it, this is comfort food through and through, the flavours are amazing!!!

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