02 January 2009

Chicken, ham and leek pie

The leftover pie to end all leftovers - chicken/capon from Christmas Day (don't worry, it hasn't been hanging around for that long - I froze it), ham from New Year's Day dinner, and the other half of the puff pastry I used to make apple galette.

It made a quick tea, after an afternoon of creating a rocket for Captain Jack, reading The Man on the Moon and watching Wallace and Gromit's Grand Day Out.

Makes enough for 4 (if you like it with mashed potato on the side), or 2 if you're especially greedy and only eat it with veg.

You'll need:

about 200g of puff pastry
leftover cooked chicken - a couple of hundred grammes
leftover cooked ham (ditto)
two large leeks, sliced
lots of dried thyme
leftover gravy (you could also use bechamel sauce or single cream/creme fraiche)
black pepper

Stick the oven on at about 200 degrees C.

Chop the chicken and ham into small pieces, and scatter in the bottom of your pie dish. Chuck the leeks in a frying pan with a little olive oil and the thyme, and cook until they've softened. Add them to the pie dish.

Pour over the gravy/sauce/cream, and season with lots of black pepper.

Roll out the puff pastry to the size of your pie dish. Place the pastry over the top of the pie, making a couple of small slits in the top to let the steam out (I don't have a fancy pie funnel so this has to do).

Shove in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, until the pastry is puffed up and golden brown, and the filling is piping hot.

Serve with lots of green vegetables (and possibly some mash).

UPDATE: you can also make a rather good chicken turnover/pasty if you have enough pastry left. Roll it out to about 2/3 A4 size, and put a handful of chicken and whatever cooked vegetables you have lurking in the fridge (I used some sweet potato/swede mash) in the bottom third. Fold over the pastry, and pinch the left, right and bottom edges together really well (you could also brush with a little water or beaten egg to help it stick). Make a small hole in the top, and bung in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, until it's golden brown and puffed up.

See also cheesy puffs...

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