Other than a Sunday roast a good pie full of flavour is my ultimate comfort dish! This super tasty creamy chicken and veg pie recipe is an absolute crowd pleaser and is always welcome at my table any day of the week, its really easy to follow and will bring smiles to the faces of your loved ones even on the gloomiest of days.
Prep time 15 mins
Cooking time 1hr20mins, including baking
1tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 large celery stalk, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2tsp dried tarragon (can be replaced with thyme)
2tsp dried parsley
2tbsp of butter
2tbsp plain flour
500ml hot chicken stock
3tbsp freshly chopped parsley (optional)
100g frozen peas (or as many or little as you like)
70ml double cream
450g cooked chicken (about 2 large breasts)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Ready to roll puff pastry
1 egg beaten
Pre heat the oven to 180ºc fan.
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan or deep frying pan and add the onion, carrot and celery and gently cook gently until soft, about 10 mins. You can add a splash of water at any point if your pan gets too dry.
Next add the garlic and dried herbs and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant.
Make sure you have the hot chicken stock to hand at this point as you will be needing it in a few minutes.
Keeping the pan on a medium heat, firstly add the butter to the veg and melt, then add the plain flour and cook off very gently for a couple of minutes stirring consistently, then add the stock in roughly 100ml at a time, using a whisk to mix after each addition to make sure you have a smooth gravy. You can always add a little more chicken stock if you thinks its still a little thick once you've added the full 500ml, or if its a little loose for your liking just turn the heat up slightly and allow it to reduce.
Once you're happy with the consistency add the chopped parsley, frozen peas and double cream. Stir until well combined. At this point you should have a delicious creamy gravy.
Now add the cooked chicken, stir and then have a taste, it will definitely need a good addition of salt and pepper. Add this to suit your taste, then transfer to a pie dish and allow to cool slightly. If you put the pastry on top while it still red hot the pastry will melt.
Once cooled cover the pie dish with the puff pastry, pushing it down on to the rim so that it doesn't shrink back while cooking and remove any excess from around the sides.
Glaze with your beaten egg and pop in the preheated oven for around 40mins or until the pastry is golden and cooked through.
Honestly I enjoy this pie best in a bowl with a few chips to dunk in to it! Heaven!!
