Hairy Biker Chicken and Leek Pie

I don’t know about you but I LOVED watching the hairy bikers cooking show when I was younger. In one episode they made a chicken leek and ham pie and my dad got out a notebook and wrote down the recipe as they said it. After that, I looked online to try and find it but I couldn’t find it anywhere! I was devastated. Anyway, we have loved making this recipe (thanks dad for your split second decision to write it down) and made a few small adaptions that we think makes it easier and tastier. I also wasn’t a fan of the ham part of this dish so I make it without. But if you just slice up a gammon steak and add it to the filling mix before you put it in the oven then you get that element too if you like. Also I do have to say use the pastry as a ratio guide, It really depends on the size of dish you have, so it may take some perfecting but is totally worth it.

I do want to note, this goes most smoothly the first time if you pre-prepare the milk, butter and flour before starting.

Method:

For the filling

1. Boil the chicken breasts in the stock. Remove from the heat once cooked
2. Meanwhile slice the leeks into 1cm slices and then halve them
3. Melt 25g of the butter into a large frying pan and cook the leeks until nice and soft
4. Remove leeks from the pan and place in a bowl
5. Melt the remaining 50g of butter in the pan
6. Add the flour and mix to a smooth paste
7. Slowly add the milk whilst mixing – be warned it WILL look like mashed potatoes at this point but don’t worry, it will loosen
8. Pour 250ml of the chicken stock to form a smooth white sauce
9. Add the wine. I measure from the heart but I would say 3tbsp is a good starting point
10. Remove from the heat and mix in the cream and season to taste.
11. Chop the chicken breast up into small bitesize pieces (this is where you would chop up and then add the ham if you wanted)
12. Mix the meats into the sauce
13. Heat the oven and a baking tray to 200C

For the pastry

1. Chop butter into small cubes to make rubbing in easy
2. Rub flour and butter together
3. Add 1 1/2 eggs, saving the rest for egg wash at the end
4. Roll out pastry on a floured surface and grease a baking dish
5. Assemble the pie, making sure the edges are properly sealed and the pastry lid has been pricked to stop it bursting
6. Egg wash the pie and then place on the pre-heated baking tray and cook for 45 minutes, Making sure that the middle is piping hot before you eat it.