Marco Pierre White's chicken and leek pie recipe

Details

• Cuisine: English
• Recipe Type: Chicken
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation Time: 50 mins
• Cooking Time: 30 mins
• Serves: 8

Step-by-step

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 4.
2. Prepare the béchamel. Melt in the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for a few minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk, stirring frequently until the sauce has thickened. Season well with salt and pepper.
3. Chop the white parts of the leeks. Keep the pieces quite large so they have some texture. Otherwise they just disappear in the sauce.
4. Melt 10g/0.3oz butter in a frying pan. Cook the leeks without colour in the butter until softened and most of the liquid is evaporated.
5. Cut each chicken breast into five pieces.
6. Stir the chicken pieces and leeks into the béchamel sauce. Dissolve the stock cube or stock pot into the sauce and cook for a few minutes until the stock cube has dissolved.
7. Transfer the chicken, béchamel and leek mix to a pie dish.
8. Lay the pastry over the dish and mould it around the side of the dish so it holds in place. It helps to glaze the edge of the dish with beaten egg beforehand to help it stick. Brush the pastry lid with the egg wash. This will help give it some colour in the oven. Don't be tempted to trim the pastry because it will shrink in the oven and if the pastry shrinks, the pie will leak.
9. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes.