Chicken and Vegetable Pie with a Puff Lid

• 2 tbspolive oil
• 800gboneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
• 3leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced
• 2carrots, diced
• 2celery sticks, diced
• 2garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tspdried thyme
• 40gplain flour
• 400mlchicken stock
• 250mlwhole milk
• 1 tbspDijon mustard
• 200gfrozen peas
• 20gparsley, chopped
• 1/2lemon, juiced
• fine salt
• black pepper
• 1 x 320gsheet ready-rolled puff pastry
• 1egg, beaten
• 400ggreen beans, steamed

Method

1. 1Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and brown in two batches for 4 minutes each, turning, until golden at the edges. Return all the chicken to the pan. Add the leeks, carrots, celery, garlic and thyme with a pinch of salt and cook for 8 minutes until the leeks have softened.
2. 2Stir in the flour and cook for a minute, then gradually add the stock and milk, stirring, and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the chicken and the carrot is tender.
3. 3Take off the heat and stir in the mustard, peas, parsley and lemon juice. Season well; a pie filling needs to taste slightly over-seasoned before it goes under pastry. Tip into a pie dish about 25cm across and leave to cool for 10 minutes so the pastry does not melt on contact.
4. 4Heat the oven to 200C fan. Unroll the pastry and lay it over the dish, trimming the edge to a 2cm overhang. Press the edge to the rim, crimp with a fork, cut two slits in the middle for steam and brush all over with the beaten egg.
5. 5Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the pastry is risen, deep golden and crisp and the filling is bubbling through the slits. Rest for 5 minutes, then serve with the green beans.

Per serving

kcal

561

protein

38.9g

fibre

8.2g

carbs

43.8g

fat

25.9g