Chicken, Bacon and Leek Pie

Ok, so I'm about a week too late with this recipe as Pie Week was last week.  Oh well, if I had it my way every week would be pie week! A dinner that includes some sort of pie is pretty much perfect in my book - flavoursome pie, smooth creamy mash and a few veg on the side - I feel hungry just writing about it.

This particular pie became one of my new favourites when I was sent Innocent's cookbook Hungry? The innocent recipe book for filling your family with good stuff to review last year.  It's so simple but oh so delicious and always a hit whenever I make it.  It also works really well with leftover cooked ham in place of the bacon.  

Chicken, Bacon & Leek Pie
(from Hungry, by the Innocent Smoothie People)

olive oil
2 leeks, trimmed, washed and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
8 chicken thighs, skinned, boned and chopped into bite-sized pieces
4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, roughly chopped
1/2 a small butternut squash, deseeded, peeled and cut into small chunks (I haven't tried it with this yet)
a few springs of thyme
2 tablespoons plain
200ml chicken stock
1 x 500g packet of puff pastry
1 large free-range egg
a splash of milk

1) Preheat your oven to 190c/375f/gas mark 5.

2) Fry the leeks and garlic in a little olive oil over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes.  Remove from the pan and set aside, then put the pan back on the heat.

3) Add a little more oil to the pan and add the chicken and bacon and cook until the chicken starts to brown, then add the leeks, squash (if using), thyme and flour and stir for a few more minutes. Then add the stock and simmer for 10 minutes.

4) Meanwhile, roll out the pastry on a clean work surface dusted with flour until about 5mm thick and big enough to fit over your pie dish.  Beat the egg and milk together and use some of it to brush the edge of the pie dish. Tip the filling into the dish then lay the pastry on top.

5) Use a fork to press the edges of the pastry to the side of the dish, then trim of any excess round the edge.  Brush the top of your pie with the egg and milk and add any decoration that you might want to make with the left over pastry (ensuring that this is brushed with egg and milk too).  Make one or two small holes in the top of the pie to allow any air to escape.

6) Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown.  Serve with mash and veg of your choice.

You can also make the pie up to the stage just before you brush with egg, then allow to cool completely before freezing.  It will keep for a few months.

Serves 4