Name: Chicken, leek and bacon pie
Total time: 2 h 45 min
Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients: 1 quantity flaky pie dough, (see recipe below); plain flour, for dusting; 1 egg yolk, whisked with 1 tbsp water; 75g pancetta, diced; 500g cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces (thighs or breasts); 80g unsalted butter; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 2 large leeks, halved, washed and chopped; 3 tbsp Dijon mustard; tarragon, roughly chopped to make 2 tbsp; 250ml white wine; 2 tbsp cornflour; 500ml chicken stock

1 quantity flaky pie dough
(see recipe below)
plain flour
for dusting
1 egg yolk
whisked with 1 tbsp water

FILLING

75g pancetta
diced
500g cooked chicken
cut into bite-sized pieces (thighs or breasts)
80g unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic
crushed
2 large leeks
halved, washed and chopped
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
tarragon
roughly chopped to make 2 tbsp
250ml white wine
2 tbsp cornflour
500ml chicken stock

Method

step 1
Put the pancetta into a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and fry, stirring occasionally, until starting to crisp. Tip into a bowl with the chicken.
step 2
Reduce the heat and add the butter to the pan. Fry the garlic and leeks for 5-10 minutes or until the leeks have wilted but are still green. Stir in the mustard and tarragon. Pour in the white wine and reduce by ²/3. Put the cornflour in a small bowl and whisk in 2 tbsp of the liquid from the pan, forming a smooth paste. Pour this mixture back into the pan and stir. Add the stock and simmer for 20-30 minutes until thickened. Pour into a bowl and cool, then stir in the chicken and pancetta. At this point you can chill the mixture for a couple days until needed.
step 3
Take one disc of pastry and roll it out on a lightly floured worksurface to a circle a little wider than your pie tin. Roll the pastry onto the rolling pin and gently unroll it into the pie tin. Trim the excess so there is about a 5cm overhang. Scrape the cooled filling into the pie crust. Put the pie tin onto a baking tray and chill.
step 4
Take the second disc of pastry and roll until slightly larger than the pie tin. Remove the pie from the fridge and brush the rim of the pie (where it sits on the edge of the pie tin) with a little water. Carefully drape the pastry over the filling and trim the excess so that it is just slightly larger than the tin. Fold the excess of the bottom crust over on itself to form a sausage of dough that sits on the rim of the pie tin. Using the thumb and forefinger of one hand and the forefinger of the other, crimp the pie. Brush with the whisked egg yolk and refrigerate until the pastry is firm.
step 5
Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Take the leftover scraps of pastry and gently knead together. On a lightly floured worksurface, roll out the remaining pastry until about 3mm thick. Using cookie cutters or cutting freehand, cut out the word ‘pie’, or whatever you fancy. Place on the top of the pie. Brush the pie once again with the remaining egg yolk mixture (this double egg wash creates a strong golden glaze once baked).
step 6
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes before reducing the temperature to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and bake for a further 45-50 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.