The Blog of Pie

Creamy Chicken, Bacon, Mushroom and Leek Pie

Serves about 3 people, depending on their appetite for pie.

The stuff:

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 1 sheet shortcrust pastry
• 2 chicken breasts (diced)
• 4 rashers delicious bacon (chopped)
• Handful button mushrooms (chopped if they’re too big)
• 1 leek
• 2 cloves garlic
• Maybe about half a cup of cream
• A couple of spoons of plain flour
• Chicken stock (a cup?)
• Pepper
• Butter
• Lemon juice

What I did with all the stuff:

1. Preheat oven to around 200 celcius (depending on the oven).
2. Melt some butter in a saucepan, add the chicken until it starts to brown, then the bacon. When it’s all cooked and delicious looking, remove it from the saucepan and put it aside.
3. Put a little more butter in the pan then add the mushrooms, once they start to release their incredible mushroomy aromas, add the leek and keep stirring for about 2 minutes.
4. Crush the garlic into the leek & mushrooms, add the cooked meats, some cream, some stock, and some pepper and lemon juice to taste.
5. Now for the tricky bit. When the mixture is quite hot, add some flour to the mix, and stir it in until it starts to thicken. If it gets too thick, add more stock or cream, then if it gets too runny, add more flour. Try not to repeat this process too many times.
6. Let it cook for a while longer… Have a taste, if it’s delicious, you’re on the right track. You may want to balance out the flavours a bit at this stage if you’re so inclined.
7. Do the thing with the pie dish and the shortcrust pastry. You know, putting the pastry in the pie dish.
8. Pour the pie filling into the pastry. Mmmm…
9. Cover the top of the filling with puff pastry, poke a few holes in it, and decorate with trimmings as you see fit.
10. Put it in the oven until it’s done.
11. Remove from oven and let it cool down a little before serving. This is the most difficult step, as the delicious pie smells will permeate every corner of your home, and you’ll be staring at it, wanting it to be in your belly.
12. Eat the pie.

Conclusion:

I must be honest… This was one of the most delicious pies I’ve ever had. Despite the shortcrust pastry being not quite cooked enough (I eat raw pastry sometimes, I’m not one to complain). I’ve since been advised that it’s a good idea to cook the shortcrust in the dish (weighed down by beans) for a short time before adding the filling. This makes perfect sense, and I will try it for my next pie.