One Pan Chicken And Leek Pie Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Serves: 6 people
Ingredients Needed
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 450g/1lb leeks, white and light green part only
- 1kg/2.2lbs chicken thigh fillets, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
- 250g/8.8ozs softened mascarpone, cream cheese (or cream)
- 2 tablespoons baby capers
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoon preserved lemon or lemon zest
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 60g/2ozs baby spinach leaves
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1 teaspoon chicken stock powder
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
- 13 sheets filo pastry
- Olive oil spray
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 - First trim the leek and cut in half lengthways. Cut into half moons and place in a sieve and wash under running water to make sure any dirt is dislodged. Heat a large cast iron casserole dish on low medium heat and add 2 tablespoons oil. Saute leeks for 12-15 minutes until soft. Increase heat to medium high and add 1 more tablespoon of oil and the chicken pieces and saute for 5-7 minutes or until chicken is cooked 3/4 of the way . Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
Step 2 - Add mascarpone or cream cheese, baby capers, smoked paprika, chives, tomato paste, Dijon mustard, lemon and thyme. Stir until you get a cohesive sauce. Add the baby spinach leaves and wilt and remove from heat. If you have time allow this cool a little.
Step 3 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F fan forced. Loosen the sauce with some water and then season the chicken with stock powder, salt and pepper and stir.
Step 4 - Take one sheet of filo pastry and scrunch it up into a ball. Place on top of the filling and repeat until the whole pie is topped with filo roses. Spray generously with oil spray and bake for 40 minutes or until pastry is golden.
Personal Note
I'm sure I'm not the only one sick of winter and with just two weeks to go of it, I am counting down the days until Spring. We were lucky enough to steal away for a couple of weeks holiday in Asia for some warm weather. Our holiday started with a couple of nights in Singapore, a place I hadn't been to in almost 10 years. My parents and sister moved there two years ago and I haven't seen them in that time so we thought that it might be a good time to see them.
We only had a couple of nights there but we saw them both days. The first day my parents came to see us at the hotel. We were staying at The Raffles Singapore and my father wanted to see what the rooms were like. "I bet he knocks on the walls to see if they are solid," I said to Mr NQN. Whenever he goes to visit a house, he knocks on the walls to check on the solidness of them. As a kid I remember him knocking on every wall of every house we ever visited and you can bet he did the same when he came to see our new house.
We sat down and had tea, biscuits and chocolates in the parlour room of our suite. The Raffles Singapore has a complimentary mini bar and that impressed them greatly. My mother still seems the same although my father does seem to have aged quite a lot. Ever since the stroke he hasn't quite bounced back in the same way. But you can believe that he still knocked on the walls in every room! Some habits are definitely ingrained. And as I was watching him knock on the walls of our hotel room, a message came up on my phone from Laura asking, "How is your dad? Is he knocking on the walls?".
So tell me Dear Reader, do you make double pastry pies or pot pies more often? And do you have a favourite pie filling? Are you known for any one type of behaviour?