4 Chicken & Leek Pies

How to make 4 Stunning Chicken and Leek individual pies, including a Flaky Pastry Masterclass, very easy step by step instructions from start to finish.

Ingredients

Method

Flaky Pastry:
380g / 13½oz Plain / All-purpose Flour
250g / 8.8oz Butter (unsalted)
140g / 140ml Water (ice cold)
8g / 1tsp Salt
1 Egg (egg wash)
Pie Filling:
2 Chicken breast fillets (Medium size)
100g / 3½oz Leek (finely chopped)
150g / 5½oz Mushrooms
3 Garlic cloves (finely chopped)
400ml Chicken stock
75ml Double Cream
30g / 1oz Butter
30g / 1oz Plain Flour
15ml / 1tbls Apple Cider Vinegar
30g / 1oz Chopped Parsley
1tsp Wholegrain Mustard (optional)

Making the pie filling:
Add the raw chicken breasts to a pan of boiling water, bring the water back to the boil, get the lid on the pan and turn off the heat, let the 2 breasts sit in the hot water for 15 minutes.
Once the time is up, remove the breasts from the water and on to a cutting board, using 2 forks pull or shred meat following the natural grain of the meat, set it aside for now.
Back to the cooker.
Melt the butter in a medium size pan on a medium heat, once hot add the leeks and cook for 5 minutes, until they are soft.
Add the garlic and flour to the pan and stir them in.
Next to add is the cider vinegar followed by the mushrooms.
Now you can add the chicken stock, do this in 2 halves, stirring as you go.
Now you can add the whole grain mustard followed by the cream.
Finally, you can mix in the finely chopped parsley, and give it all a good mix.
Get the lid on the pan and allow it to completely cool before using it.

Making the Flaky Pastry:
Before starting the recipe, make sure everything is as cold as possible, I like to keep my butter in the freezer for 30 minutes before starting.
Add the flour to a large bowl, then add the salt and mix it in.
Place a box grater in the bowl with the flour, and quickly begin grating in the cold butter, keep dipping the butter in the flour as you go. It helps considerably.
Now using light hands, gently toss the grated butter in with the flour until everything is combined.
Place the bowl in the fridge or freezer for 15 minutes.
Once chilled add the ice-cold water to the pastry bowl, bring all together using an ordinary dinner knife.
Now using your hands gently but quickly, knead it until you have the pastry formed, try not to overwork the dough.
Divide the pastry into 4 pieces, get it into a food bag and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.
Assembling the Pies:
Roll out your pastry to approx., 3mm / 1/8in, thick, and cut out 4, 16.5cm / 6½in circles for the bases, and 4, 12.5cm / 5in circles for the lids of the pies.
Place the pastry bases in the pie tins, using a small piece of waste pastry, gently press the pastry right down into the corners, make sure to leave some pastry sticking over the rim of the pie tin.
Add the now cold chicken n leek filling to each of the pastry cases, just below the top of the pie tin, the filling does expand some in the oven, so do not over fill.
At this point, preheat your oven to, 170°C / 340°F / Gas mark 3.
Brush egg wash all around the edge of the pastry in the tin, and some around the edge of the pie lid.
Place the lids on the top of the pie bases, and gently press it down, using your thumb and forefingers, crimp the 2 pastries together, try not to get egg wash between the pastry and the tin, as this will stick when baking.
Trim any excess pastry from around the edge of the tins with a small dull knife.
Quickly re-crimp all around again, basically tidy up the pie.
Place all 4 pies on a baking tray.
Cut 2 or 3 vent slits in the top of each pie.
Give each pie a good coat of the egg wash.
Place the tray on the lowest part of the preheated oven, and use the bottom element in your oven if you have one, if you don’t have separate elements in your oven, bake these in the middle of the oven.
Now set your timer for 50 minutes.
Remove from the oven, and place the 4 tins on a wire rack, allow them to settle and cool for 10 minutes.
While they are still hot, carefully remove each pie from their tin.
Serve piping hot with mashed potatoes or chips/fries and steamed green vegetables and carrots.
Enjoy.