Chicken, bacon and vegetable pot pie
Individual pot pies are easy to put together, without any fiddly pastry crimping. Serve with simple cooked vegetables such as glazed carrots, or mashed potatoes, for an ideal family supper.
Makes: 6 individual pies or 1 large pie
Preparation time: 1¼ hours, plus 30 minutes for cooling
Cooking time: 20 minutes (or 30 for a large pie)
05 February 2011
You will need
12 skinless chicken thigh fillets (about 1kg)
8 rashers dry-cured smoked streaky bacon
1 tbsp mild olive oil
2 onions
2 sticks celery
3 medium leeks
Several fresh thyme sprigs
1 tbsp butter
200g button mushrooms
2 tbsp plain flour, plus extra for rolling
400ml chicken stock
200ml half-fat crème fraîche
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 × 500g pack frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 medium egg
Salt and pepper
Method
1. Cut the chicken thighs and bacon into bite-sized pieces.
2. Heat a large frying pan or shallow heatproof casserole over a medium heat and add the oil. After 30 seconds, add half of the chicken and bacon to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Fry for about eight to 10 minutes, stirring often, until golden all over. Scoop onto a plate using a slotted spoon, then repeat with the second batch.
3. While the chicken cooks, finely slice the onions, celery and leeks. Once both batches of chicken are cooked and set aside, add the vegetables to the pan, then cover and cook gently for about 10 minutes, until soft.
4. Pick the thyme leaves from their stalks. Turn the heat back up a little, then add the butter, mushrooms and thyme. Fry, stirring, for about three minutes, until the mushrooms and vegetables take on a golden tinge. Return the chicken to the pan.
5. Take the pan off the heat, then stir in the flour. Add the stock gradually to make a smooth sauce around the chicken and vegetables. Simmer for 20 minutes, until the chicken is tender.
6. Swirl the crème fraîche and mustard into the pie filling.
7. Taste the sauce for seasoning before you add any salt (the bacon will have added plenty). Season with pepper. Spoon the chicken pie filling into six individual pie dishes, leaving at least 2.5cm at the top so that the filling can bubble without escaping. Leave to cool.
8. Flour the work surface a little, then roll the pastry to a square about 45 × 45cm. Cut six rectangles of pastry, each a little wider than the tops of the pie dishes. Use a fork to beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water to make a glaze. Dampen the rim of each dish with a little of the glaze. Press the pastry over the top.
9. Lightly brush the glaze over the pastry. Make a few small slashes in the top of each pie with a small sharp knife. The pies can be chilled for up to two days at this point.
10. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Put the pies on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling up in the middle. Pies cooked straight from the refrigerator will take a few minutes longer to cook.
Tips: Use fresh pastry rather than frozen, then freeze the pies, unbaked, for up to one month. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before baking.
To make a large pie, put the filling into a large pie dish, and cover with the pastry. Slash the top, then bake for 30 minutes, until risen and golden.
Most supermarkets now sell boned chicken thighs. They’re better than breasts for a recipe like this because the meat stays moist, they have more flavour, and they are also better value. If you can’t find chicken thighs, use breasts cut into chunks. Brown them, then return them to the pan during step five, simmering for five minutes only, until the chicken is cooked through.
Recipe, Jane Hornby from What to Cook and How to Cook It, (Phaidon, £24.95)
