Chicken, Leek & Bacon Pie!

 

 

A delicious and comforting homemade chicken, leek & bacon pie which is an easy and perfect dinner idea for the family

Say hello to probably the first proper recipe of homemade proper food on this blog, and I hope you LOVE IT. It’s cosy, it’s warm, it’s the perfect delicious dish that I adore making during the week or at weekends, as it really is so easy to make!

 

Chicken & Bacon

So obviously one of the main parts of this pie is the chicken, and the bacon. I have always loved the combination of chicken and bacon together, so when you add these flavours into a pie? It gets even better.

I use bacon lardons in this recipe as I love chunks of the bacon once they have been fried off and crispy, and you can use either smoked or unsmoked, whichever you prefer. You can of course use actual bacon, or remove the fat from bacon, or even use cooked ham – whichever is best for you.

For the chicken, I tend to buy chicken breasts and then cut into inch size chunks. I find it easier, but you can buy chicken already in chunks, or chicken thighs, or mini fillets etc… and cut into the chunks.

When cooking the bacon, you cook until crispy. When you cook the chicken, I cook for a few minutes so all the sides are no longer pink, but it’s not essential for the middles of the chicken to be fully cooked. When adding the sauce and boiling it, and then when cooking in the oven, the chicken gets cooked through.

Leeks

I have a weird thing for leeks, because I find they are easy to cook, add a delicious flavour that is different and sometimes preferential to onions, and I just love them. I won’t lie, leek and potato soup is one of my favourite flavours, and I adore it.

I grab two medium leeks, slice them relatively thinly, and fry. It doesn’t have to be super thin, it doesn’t have to be perfectly sliced – just slice and then fry away in the frying pan. I find leeks are quick to cook, and they compliment the flavour of the chicken and bacon wonderfully, and suit this style of pie perfectly.

Flavours

For the flavours in this pie, I went for thyme and bay leaves. There are so many options of flavours that you can add to this sort of pie, but I do really adore these herbs added to a creamy sauce.

I tend to buy dried herbs as they last a lot longer, and I never tend to use a whole plant up before it goes off – but you can use fresh if you wish. I would add 2-3 sprigs of thyme, and a few bay leaves – but again, dried is easy.

Obviously there is salt and pepper too, but that is a classic in most cooking recipes (and it should be!). I just sprinkle some into the sauce, and then stir through – and then pour onto the base and bake.

The sauce

The sauce is super easy to make, and that’s how I like it. A mixture of chicken stock and double cream makes a thick and luxurious sauce for a pie like this, and I am obsessed. You can use different flavoured stocks if you prefer, that is totally fine. I tend to use the jelly cubes, and then add the equivalent of boiling water (200ml for this recipe).

I find the double cream gives a thickness and richness to the sauce, without being heavy. You can use single cream, but it will make a thinner sauce, even after the cornflour addition, whereas with the double cream its perfect.

To be honest, even without make this a pie, this chicken, leek and bacon creamy sauce is ideal for other meals – serve with mashed potato, add pasta, and so on… so many dinner ideas with the delicious base to this recipe.

Pastry

For this pie, I use puff pastry. It’s probably one of my favourite pastry as it’s delicious and buttery and heavenly. I do line the base of the pie with pastry, which is optional – but I love it. You blind bake the pastry slightly to prevent a completely soggy bottom however. The sides of the puff pastry when blind baking may puff slightly, but that is totally okay.

I top the pie with puff pastry, and add some little shapes of pastry to decorate – but this is optional. You want to cut a small cross in the middle of the pie to let air escape whilst its cooking, and I brush the top of the pie with milk to glaze and make lovely and golden, but you can use beaten egg instead.

To finish…

Once this delicious chicken, leek & bacon pie is ready, you can serve it… salad, new potatoes, veg, roasties, whatever you want! It suits many side dishes.

 

·         You can swap the chicken stock for a different flavoured stock if you fancy

·         You can swap the chicken and bacon for mushrooms, and extra leeks or other veggies if you want a meat free pie

·         This pie is best served fresh

·         The pastry on the base is optional, you can just put it on top

·         You can top it with filo pastry instead if you want a lighter pie

 

Chicken, Leek & Bacon Pie!

A delicious and comforting homemade chicken, leek & bacon pie which is an easy and perfect dinner idea for the family.

Print Pin Rate

Category: Dinner

Type: Savoury

Keyword: Chicken, cookie pie

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 people

Author: Jane’s Patisserie

 

Ingredients

·         2 sheets puff pastry

·         200 g bacon lardons

·         2 medium leeks (sliced)

·         600 g chicken breast (cut into chunks)

·         1 tsp dried thyme

·         5 bay leaves

·         200 ml chicken stock

·         150 ml double cream

·         1 tbsp cornflour

·         salt & pepper

·         milk to glaze

Grams – Ounces

 

Instructions

·         Preheat the oven to 200ºc/180ºc fan and grab a 35x23cm dish

·         Line the base of the dish with one of the sheets of puff pastry (you may have to roll it out slightly to make it a smidge thinner)

·         Line the pastry with some parchment paper, and fill with baking beans to cover the base

·         Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, and then remove and take out the baking beans and parchment paper

·         While you are baking the pastry, fry the bacon lardons in a large frying pan until they turn crispy, and then remove from the pan

·         Add the leeks to the frying pan and fry until they have started to soften, and then add the chicken chunks and fry for a few minutes

 

·         Return the bacon lardons to the frying pan, and add the dried thyme, bay leaves, chicken stock, double cream and cornflour dissolved in 2tbsp cold water

·         Stir together and bring the mixture to a rolling boil, until the sauce thickens

·         Season with salt and pepper, and then pour into the dish onto the pastry base

·         Top the pie with the second piece of pastry, and seal the edges with your thumbs or a fork. Cut a small cross into the middle to allow air to escape

·         Brush the pastry with milk (and decorate with extra pieces of pastry if you fancy)

·         Bake the pie in the oven for 25 minutes, until golden brown

·         Serve immediately with salad, potatoes or veg!

 

Notes

·         You can swap the chicken stock for a different flavoured stock if you fancy

·         You can swap the chicken and bacon for mushrooms, and extra leeks or other veggies if you want a meat free pie

·         This pie is best served fresh

·         The pastry on the base is optional, you can just put it on top

·         You can top it with filo pastry instead if you want a lighter pie

ENJOY!