Chicken & Leek Pie

Ingredients

• 600g chicken thighs, cut into 3cm pieces
• 400ml hot chicken stock
• 30g plain flour
• 150g frozen peas, thawed
• 2 leeks, sliced (white and light green parts)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 60ml double cream
• 40g butter
• 1 large egg, beaten (to glaze)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 320g ready-rolled puff pastry
• Dressed green salad, to serve
• Fresh chives, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Pat the chicken dry and season generously with salt and pepper.
2. Warm the olive oil and half the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Fry the chicken in batches for around 3 minutes, turning until lightly golden on the outside but not cooked through. Lift out and set aside.
3. Drop the remaining butter into the pan and let it foam. Add the leeks and onion and cook gently for 6–8 minutes, stirring often, until very soft, sweet and just starting to catch gold at the edges. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds until fragrant.
4. Scatter over the flour and stir for a full minute to cook out the raw taste. Slowly whisk in the hot stock, a splash at a time, until you have a smooth, glossy sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer, pour in the cream, scatter in the thyme and return the chicken with any resting juices.
5. Simmer for 6–8 minutes until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and the chicken is tender. Stir through the peas, taste and season well.
6. Tip the filling into a 20cm pie dish and smooth the top. Drape the puff pastry over, trim the overhang and press the edges firmly to seal — crimp with a fork if you fancy. Brush all over with beaten egg and cut a small vent in the centre.
7. Sit the pie on a baking tray and bake for 25–30 minutes, until the pastry is deeply puffed, burnished and shatteringly crisp, with the filling bubbling at the edges.
8. Rest for 5 minutes to let the filling settle, then break through the lid and serve with a flurry of chives and a crack of black pepper.