Chicken Tarragon Pot Pie
All the joy of a pie and none of the faff - this is the corner-cutting, cosy recipe you’ll be reaching for throughout the colder months.
I’m spending this week with family in the English countryside (Somerset) - time filled with chilly morning dog walks, cups of tea, collecting eggs from the chickens in the garden and endless hours in the kitchen to the soundtrack of the rain on the windows.
So what better thing to eat for dinner than a cosy, comforting, heartwarming chicken pot pie - “pot” because, as much as I love grappling with a more technical recipe from time to time, sometimes you want to cut those corners and take the easy route to flavour town.
Ingredients (serves 4 hungry people)
6 chicken thigh fillets - cut into bitesize pieces
50g pancetta
2 leeks - finely sliced
2 cloves garlic - finely sliced
2 handfuls chestnut mushrooms - quartered
20g butter
20g plain flour
500ml fresh chicken stock
100ml whole milk
1 tbsp dijon mustard
30g fresh tarragon - finely chopped
Sea salt & freshly cracked pepper to taste
1 sheet ready made puff pastry
1 egg yolk - to glaze
Method:
To start, fry off the chicken pieces in olive oil and a pinch of salt until golden and crispy on the edges - don’t worry too much about overcooking the thighs, they are very forgiving. Set aside.
In the same pan, add in the pancetta and render the fat on a medium heat until starting to crisp. Add in the sliced leeks and sweat for 15 minutes until softened. Add in the garlic for a couple more minutes then add in the chestnut mushrooms. Give everything a really good mix around for a few minutes.
Add in the butter and flour and combine amongst the other ingredients really well, for 2-3 minutes.
Add in the chicken stock in instalments, stirring well in between until you have a smooth sauce. Add in the 100ml milk, give that a good mix and let that come to the boil for 2 minutes.
Add back in the chicken along with the tarragon, mustard and sesonsing.
Pour into a baking dish and let that completely cool then chill in the fridge.
When you’re ready to eat, unroll your sheet of puff pastry and drape it on top of the dish. Secure it around the edges, brush with the egg yolk (and decorate if you like!) then bake in a 180C oven for 30-40minutes until the pastry is deeply golden and puffed up, and the filling is bubbling below.
Serve with mash & greens! Enjoy!