Chicken Mushroom and Leek Pie

overhead view of chicken, mushrooms and leek pie with puff pastry on a blue white cloth with a spoon.

5 from 1 vote

This creamy chicken, mushroom, and leek pie covered with crispy puff pastry is a classic British recipe, perfect comfort food that you’ll want to make again and again.

Prep Time30

Cook Time32

Course: Main Course, Poultry

Cuisine: British

Servings:

Calories: 605kcal

Author: Adina

Equipment

1 Frying pan large
1 Ceramic baking dish about 28 cm/11-inch diameter.

Ingredients

Chicken and stock:

3 chicken quarters 800 g/ 1.7 lb Notes 1 and 2
5 black peppercorns
3 bay leaves
5 allspice corns
½ chicken stock cubes

Filling:

250 g mushrooms 9 oz Note 3
450 g leeks 1 lb Note 4
2 tablespoons butter divided
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
500 ml chicken stock 2 cups
125 ml heavy cream ½ cup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
5 gratings of nutmeg
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried tarragon
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
½ teaspoon fine sea salt or Kosher more to taste, Note 5
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Pastry:

1 sheet puff pastry Note 6
1 egg small
1 tablespoon milk

Instructions

Chicken and stock:

Cook chicken: Place chicken legs, peppercorns, bay leaves, allspices, and stock cube in a large pot. Cover with cold water about 2 ½ cm/ 1 inch above the meat. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down, and simmer gently until cooked through (Notes 1,2).
Lift the meat from the stock and sieve the stock to remove the rest of the solids. Let the meat cool while you prepare the sauce.

Filling:

Prepare vegetables: Clean and quarter the mushrooms. Clean and finely slice the leeks. Set aside separately.
Cook vegetables: Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a large frying pan. Fry the mushrooms until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the cleaned and sliced leeks and cook for 10 minutes until soft, adding a splash of water and the grated garlic cloves halfway through. Remove from the pan.
Make the white sauce: Add the second tablespoon of butter, sprinkle the flour on top, and stir shortly until a thick paste is formed. Slowly add the measured stock, stirring well to avoid any clumps.
Simmer sauce: Add the cream, mustard, dried thyme and tarragon, nutmeg, salt, and ground black pepper. Stir well and allow the sauce to simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes.
Shred the meat: In the meantime, remove the skin and the bones from the chicken legs. Shred the meat into smaller pieces.
Add meat, cooked vegetables, lemon juice, and chopped parsley to the sauce, and stir to combine.
Pour the sauce into the baking dish.

Pastry:

Unroll the puff pastry on the work surface.
Cut about 3 thin strips for the pastry; they should be as thick as the pie dish’s rim. Brush the rim with a bit of water and place these strips all around the edge of the baking dish. Brush the strips with a bit of water as well (Note 7).
Cover the pie with the pastry. Trim away the excess. Press down the rim using your fingers to seal the pie (Note 8). Use a sharp knife to cut a steam hole in the middle of the pie.
Egg brush: Beat the egg and milk in a small bowl. Brush the pie with the mixture.

Bake:

Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until deeply golden. Let rest for 5 minutes and serve.

Notes

1. You can use 3 chicken quarters or 3 chicken thighs and 3 chicken drumsticks. I recommend using chicken legs, but the chicken breast will work fine as well.

2. The different meat cuts have different cooking times:

Quarters: 25-30 minutes

Thighs: 20-25 minutes

Drumsticks: 15 minutes

Breasts: 12-15 minutes

3. Cremini or white mushrooms are both perfect.

4. Leeks can come in very different sizes, I had two pieces, but that might vary depending on their size.

5. If using table salt, start with only ¼ teaspoon; it is more potent than sea or Kosher salt. Taste and add more as required.

6. Already rolled puff pastry from the refrigerator section of the supermarket. One sheet weighs 275 g/ 10 oz, is about 40 cm/ 16 inches long and 26 cm/ 10.2 inches wide. A little more or less is OK. If using frozen pastry, defrost and roll it according to the package instructions.

7. This is an extra step, you can leave it, but the extra edge helps the rest of the pastry stick better to the dish.

8. Optional: Cut the leftover trimmed pastry pieces and decorate the pie.

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