Beat the winter chill with these deliciously creamy individual chicken, leek and mushroom pot pies. Easy to make and suitable for freezing when you're in need of a quick midweek meal
Ingreadient
- olive oil
- 6 skinless chicken thigh fillets, cut into chunks
- 3 large leeks, sliced
- 20 chestnut mushrooms, halved
- 100g butter
- 100g plain flour, plus more for dusting
- 800ml milk
- 1 heaped tbsp Dijon mustard
- 400g puff pastry
Direction
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken pieces in two batches until lightly golden. Scoop out onto a plate, and add the leeks and mushrooms to the pan. Fry for 5-10 minutes until the leek is tender. Add to the plate with the chicken.
- Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Melt the butter in a large pan, sprinkle in the flour and stir on a low heat until smooth. Add the milk, a splash at a time, continually stirring until all the milk has been added. Simmer for 5 minutes to make a smooth, thick, white sauce. Stir in the mustard.
- Stir in the chicken, leeks and mushrooms with lots of seasoning, then spoon into 6 ovenproof individual pie dishes and leave to cool. Roll the pastry out to £1 coin thickness on a lightly floured work surface. Cut out 6 circles to top the pies, and press onto the tops. Crimp or decorate the top with the off-cuts, and transfer to a baking tray.
- Cook for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is lightly golden brown and crisp. Leave to cool for 10 minutes then serve, or leave to cool completely, wrap in clingfilm then foil, and freeze.
- To cook from frozen, heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Remove the clingfilm and foil, and cook for 35-40 minutes until piping hot throughout. Serve with mash and greens, if you like.
