Chicken and leeks are probably one of my favourite savoury flavour combinations, and I absolutely love it in pie form. With deliciously crisp, buttery pastry encasing the creamy filling, this is definitely the ultimate winter comfort food dish for me.
Chicken & Leek Pie
Chicken and leeks are probably one of my favourite savoury flavour combinations, and I absolutely love it in pie form. With deliciously crisp, buttery pastry encasing the creamy filling, this is definitely the ultimate winter comfort food dish for me.
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Ingredients
Pastry
- 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- 250 Grams Unsalted Butter (1 Cup) Cold or frozen
- 8-10 Tbsp Cold/Ice Water
Filling
- 400 Grams Chicken fillets Skinless and de-boned and cut into strips
- 200 Grams Leeks Finely sliced
- ½ Onion or 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp Chives Finely chopped
- 3 Cloves of garlic Crushed and divided (2 + 1)
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil Divided (2 + 1)
- 2 tsp Dried Italian Herb Mix
Sauce
- 30 Grams Butter
- 1 tsp Dried Italian Herb Mix
- 2 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Cup Milk Warm
- 1 tsp Mustard I prefer whole grain mustard
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
Pastry
- Sieve or whisk together the flour and salt
- Grate the chilled butter into the flour mixture, cutting it in with a sharp knife or pastry cutter. Then add the cold water, one tablespoon at a time, and mix until it comes together as a dough. This can also be done in a food processor or stand mixer if you wish
- Do not overwork the dough. It is fine if there are bits of butter visible in the dough. If the dough is too dry and crumbly, add a dash more water a teaspoon at a time. This should not be a wet dough but should also not be dry and crumbly
- Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface or board and roll out into a circular shape, a little larger than the pie dish you are planning to use. (If you are planning to make a plain, solid lid/top for your pie, now is a good time to pre-cut it before your pie dish is in use. See the instructions in the assembly section below). If using a ceramic or glass dish then ensure that you very lightly grease it with non-stick cooking spray before placing the pastry inside. I used a 20cm non stick pie dish with a removable bottom, which does not need greasing as the pastry includes a lot of butter
- Place the dough into the pie dish and ensure that the bottom and sides are covered*. The pastry is soft and will most likely break when moving, so patch any holes or cracks if you need to. Place in the fridge for around 30 minutes while you preheat your oven and start your filling (the filling has to cool before adding it to the pastry so start it now)
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. When hot, remove the pastry case from the fridge, dock the bottom with a fork and line with baking paper. Use baking beans, or dried beans or rice to weigh down the pastry. Make sure that no pastry is visible at this point. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the baking paper and beans/weights and bake uncovered for a further 5 – 10 minutes. You don't want the pastry to brown or shrink too much. It is ready when there are no visible 'wet' spots. Remove and let cool slightly before adding the filling (Leave the oven on)
Filling
- Place a large pan on medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When warm, add the chicken and 2 cloves of crushed garlic, then sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper and 1 teaspoon of dried herbs. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes then flip each piece over and repeat the seasoning. The heat should not be high. You do not want the chicken to brown, dry out or cook too far, it needs to be just barely cooked through and still moist as you are going to shred it**. The cooking time depends on the size of your fillets/strips. Mine only takes 2 – 3 minutes a side. Remove the chicken and place in a dish to cool a little before shredding
- Place the pan back on the medium heat and add the final tablespoon of olive oil, the chopped onion and leeks, last clove of crushed garlic and 1 teaspoon of herbs. Saute until these are soft. Do not brown. Then remove from the pan and set aside
- When the chicken is slightly cooled and can be handled, shred it with two forks, place bak in the dish and side aside (Everything will be added back into the sauce in the next step)
Sauce
- Place the pan back on the heat and add the butter and herbs. When the butter has melted add the flour. Stir or whisk (I prefer a whisk to avoid lumps) continuously until a paste forms, this is called a roux. Continue to cook and stir/whisk for 2 minutes
- Add the warm milk to the roux/paste a little at a time, stirring/whisking as you go, until you get a smooth sauce. Add the mustard and a little salt and cook for 5 – 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the sauce starts to thicken. Then add the shredded chicken, the leek and onion mixture and the chopped chives to the sauce (including any juices, garlic and herbs they might have left behind). Cook for another minute or so and season to taste with salt and pepper
- Remove from the heat and place in a bowl or dish to cool completely. After about 10 – 15 minutes cooling at room temperature you can place it in the fridge to cool a little further for around another 15 minutes***. The filling needs to be at least at room temperature before adding to the pastry case
Assembly
- At this point your pastry case should be in the oven baking or about to come out to cool
- I use this time to prepare the lid for my pastry case if doing a patterned lid. However, If you are going to make a plain/solid lid for the pie, be sure to measure your pie dish before it goes into the oven to cut the top to the correct size or pre cut it when you prepare the bottom crust as mentioned earlier
- – For a solid, plain pie lid/top: I roll out my pastry for the top before I do the bottom. I place the rolled out dough onto a piece of parchment/baking paper (to assist with transfer later), then I place the pie dish upside down onto the pastry and cut around it to get the correct size. Cover it to avoid drying out and leave in the fridge until you need it later
- – For the plaited/braided lid (as in the photo): I traced my pie dish's size onto a piece of baking paper to have a template. Then I rolled the pastry into a rectangle and cut it length-ways into equal width strips. For the size of my dish I needed 26 strips. I pinched together the top of two strips, twisted them to form the braid/plait, then pinched together the ends. I repeated this until I had enough to cover my pie dish, which was 13 plaits. I placed them tightly (as they will shrink a little while baking) onto the template and cut them to size, leaving them just slightly longer than necessary. Then I set that aside in the fridge until I was ready to use them
- When the pastry case has blind baked, has been removed from the oven, and has cooled for about 5 – 10 minutes, I remove the filling from the fridge and spoon it into the pastry case, ensuring that it is packed in quite firmly and smooth it out as much as possible with the spoon. Ensure you don't have too much liquid. You do want sauce/a wet mixture but it should not be swimming/flooded as your pastry will go soggy
- Carefully place your pastry lid on top, or lay your strips if using the braids, and pinch the edges slightly to help them stick to the pastry case and pie dish. Then trim any excess if there is any hanging over the edge. If using a solid lid, make a hole in the centre to let the steam escape. This is not necessary with the braids and the slight gaps between them will allow for this
- Whisk together 1 egg and a dash of milk to make an egg wash and paint it over the top pastry. The place in the oven and bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until it is golden brown (start checking from 30 minutes as some ovens run hot)
- Let cool for a few minutes then serve
Notes
*I roll the circle of dough over my rolling pin for ease of transfer to the pie dish, then place it loosely over the pie dish and work it into the corners and sides with my fingers.
**I sometimes place a lid on top to keep the steam/moisture in while the chicken cooks. This keeps it super moist and speeds up the cooking.
***I like to stir my mixture every so often which helps the cooling. Otherwise the top cools faster than the bottom of the mixture.
The pastry and the filling for this dish can be pre-made and either refrigerated or frozen. Just ensure that they are thoroughly defrosted before use if frozen. Ensure that the pastry is always kept cold. If the butter in the pastry melts before baking it will make a soggy and oily pie. You can also pre blind bake the bottom pastry case and refrigerate or freeze it. If doing it all on one day, please allow for the cooling and resting time, especially for the filling as you don’t want to add piping hot filling to the pastry case.
Tried this recipe?Post your pics and tag us at @my_homemade_kitchen_za or #myhomemadekitchen!
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