Chicken and leek pie
A proper British pie: tender chicken and sweet leeks in a creamy mustard sauce under a puffed, golden pastry lid.
- 100 min total
- 45 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 6
- About $3.22 a serving
- 560 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 puff pastry sheet, one sheet
- 3 leeks, white and light green parts, sliced
- 2 lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 tbsp butter, divided
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ cups chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 large egg, beaten
From your pantry
- 1¼ tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
Each serving has about 560 calories, 37 g protein, 31 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $3.22 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No frozen peas? Frozen mixed vegetables work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Take the puff pastry out of the freezer to thaw on the counter for 40 minutes while you make the filling.
Dolly’s tip: It should bend without cracking. If it’s still stiff, give it 10 more minutes.Swish the leeks in a big bowl of cold water, then lift them out into a colander.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Dolly’s tip: Leeks hide sand between their layers. Lifting them out leaves the grit at the bottom of the bowl.Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon of salt and the pepper.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
1 tablespoon of butter in a large deep over medium-high and the chicken 5 to 6 minutes.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Move it to a plate.
Turn the heat to medium, add the rest of the butter and the leeks, and cook 6 to 8 minutes, until soft. in the garlic and thyme for 1 minute.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heatTimer: 8 min
Sprinkle the flour over and 1 minute. Slowly stir in the broth, then the cream and mustard, and 3 to 4 minutes, until thick.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Return the chicken with the peas and remaining salt and 5 minutes, until the biggest piece reads 165°F.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 5 min
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
the oven to 400°F. Pour the filling into a 2-quart baking dish and let it cool for 10 minutes.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Timer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: A slightly cooled filling keeps the pastry from melting before it puffs.Lay the pastry over the dish, the overhang to about ½ inch, and press it onto the rim. Cut 3 slits in the top and brush it with the egg.
Trim. Trimming means cutting off the parts you don’t eat, like stem ends, tough bits or thick fat. It keeps chewy or bitter bits out of the finished dish.
How you’ll know: What’s left is the good part, with no dry ends, woody stems or thick white fat.
25 to 30 minutes, until puffed and deep , then let it rest 10 minutes before serving.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 27 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Set the dish on a sheet pan in case the filling bubbles over.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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