If you're American, like me, you may be giggling when you read the name of the pie, but it's nothing dirty, I swear! It's originally a soup, but really just means 'chicken' and 'leeks'. I love the combination, and was really craving a pie, so here you go!
You can add more vegetables to this as well if you want. Anything from peas to chopped carrots will work. Just make sure to fry them with the leeks and mushrooms. And although I can't speak for all kids, I think a lot will like this. It's creamy and yummy, and tastes similar to chicken-pot-pie, and who doesn't love that?!
I have to say, I originally intended to top this pie with a pie crust. BUT, I didn't realise my store-bought pie dough (yay shortcuts for weeknights) only had one crust in it. So, a bit of improvisation, and I had a sourdough breadcrumb top, and I think it was better. It was crunchy, golden brown, and delicious!
The recipe looks a bit complicated, but the pie isn't too hard to make. Including the baking time and clean up, it took me an hour to do, which is perfect for me for weeknight meals. Plus, I had loads of leftovers which I can refrigerate for tomorrow.
So, here's the recipe! I included a list of equipment so you can quickly see what you'll need. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1x Recipe for shortcrust (or 1 store-bought shortcrust pastry. If you don't want the sourdough crumb top, buy or make two pastries)
5 Slices of slightly stale sourdough bread OR breadcrumbs
2 TBSP Olive oil
2x Chicken breasts, or 4x chicken thighs, cubed
1 Onion, diced
1 Garlic clove, finely diced
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 Leek, sliced
10 Button mushrooms, sliced
1 TBSP Butter
1 TBSP Plain flour
300ml Milk
200ml Chicken stock
Salt
White Pepper
1 Egg
Equipment:
Large sauté pan that can hold liquid
Rolling pin
Whisk
Wooden spoon
22cm round pie dish
Brush
Food processor (if using stale bread)
Preheat oven to 200C.
Season chicken with a sprinkle of salt. Cut chicken in 1-inch chucks. Heat a large sauté pan (make sure it can hold liquid--you'll use it to make the sauce for the pie) and olive oil over medium heat. Cook chicken until the sides are browned--about 5-7 minutes. Don't cook fully--they'll finish in the oven.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the veg as stated in the ingredients. When chicken is browned, remove with tongs and set aside. Add your onion and garlic in the same pan and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. You want the onions to soften, not burn or get too much colour.
After 5 minutes, add the leek, mushrooms, and nutmeg, and stir. Cook until the mushrooms are tender (about 10 minutes), then remove the vegetables to the same plate the chicken is on.
Reduce the heat of your pan to medium-low. Add the butter to the pan and melt. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Stir constantly here so the butter and flour don't burn. Very slowly, add the milk while stirring the roux with a whisk. This will help avoid chunks of flour. Add the chicken stock when the milk is fully combined, and bring to a simmer. Stir and cook until thickened--about 5 minutes. TASTE here and season to taste with salt and white pepper.
When the sauce is thickened, remove from heat and tip the vegetables and chicken back in.
Flour a work surface and roll out your pastry dough to the thickness of a £1 coin. Tip your pie dish upside down on the dough, and cut a circle around it about 1-inch out from the edge of the dish.
Flip the dish back over and grease with butter. Carefully lift your pastry and line the pan. Trim any overhang. Prick the bottom with a fork.
If you are using slices of stale bread, BEFORE you tip the filling into the pie dough, blitz the bread in a food processor until it is fine crumbs.
Carefully tip the chicken, veg, and liquid into the prepared pie dish. Top the pie with either another pie crust, or your breadcrumbs. If using a pie crust to top, cut two slits in the top, and crimp the edges with a fork or your fingers. Brush any exposed pie crust with a whisked egg.
Place the pie dish on a baking tray to catch any leaks. Cook in the hot oven for 25 minutes.
Comments
Post a Comment