Spring Has Sprung Chicken Pie

A week that many of us look forward to, British Pie Week, we have an excuse to indulge in our favourite recipes. This week is to celebrate making and baking homemade pies, enjoying those hearty flavours that we love. The most difficult decision is deciding which filling to choose, will it be meat and potato? Steak and ale? Cottage? Shepherd's? For our pie recipe, we opted for chicken, mushroom and leek in a thick and creamy sauce, topped with puff pastry. 

You will need:

• 3 x chicken breasts
• Button mushrooms
• 2 x leeks
• 1 x chicken stock
• 100ml double cream
• Ready-rolled puff pastry
• 50g flour
• 50g butter
• 1 x egg

1) Put the chicken breasts into a roasting pan and cook for 30 minutes at 200°C.

2) Heat the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, finely chop the leeks, then add to the melted butter. Stir well.

3) Remove any dirt with a damp cloth from your mushrooms, then chop in half and add these to the saucepan. 

4) Add the flour to the saucepan and stir until incorporated.

5) Dissolve the stock cube in boiling water, then add to the saucepan, along with the cream. Leave on the heat until the mixture thickens. 

6) Once the chicken is cooked, take out of the oven and cut into chunks. Add these to the filling mixture and stir until everything is combined.

7) Add the filling to your pie dish and place the pastry on the top, then cut to fit the top of the dish. Cut out pastry decorations and to the top of the pie. Brush the pastry with egg yolk, then bake at 180°C for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown.