This is an absolute family favourite at my house, I can guarantee that after cooking it once it will be highly requested and on repeat.
Serves 6
- 1 whole Chicken approx 1.8kg OR 1 BBQ chook (don’t add salt if using this!)
- 30 grams of butter
- 1 brown onion finely diced
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 300gms washed sliced leek (2 small/1 large)
- 2 -3 garlic cloves
- 1 cup of salt reduced chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons of plain flour
- 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
- 1 loosely packed cup of parsley leaves
- 1/3 cup Parmesan
- 300 mls of thickened cream
- Season chicken with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Place in an oven preheated to 190 degrees for 1 hour. (180 if a fan forced oven).
- Sauté the onion and salt in half of the butter until soft. Add the rest of the butter, the garlic and leek. Sauté for one minute before adding the stock. Pop a lid on and cook on medium for five minutes or until leek is soft.
- Sprinkle the flour over the leek mixture stirring quickly. This will help thicken the sauce. Add the mustard, cream, parmesan and some pepper. Next, add finely chopped parsley.
- Once the chicken is cooked (allow to rest for 10 minutes once it’s out of the oven) remove the skin and shred the meat into the leek mix.
- Pop in a pie tin, top with a sheet of puff pastry and brush with lightly beaten egg. Bake at 200 degrees for 35 minutes or until brown. We all fight over the pastry so I always cook a spare sheet or two on a separate tray to share at the table.
The chicken can be roasted in advance and stored in the fridge. If I’m doing roast chook I often roast an extra one to have spare for lunches or a pie like this. Certainly saves time!
As an alternative to pastry you can top with mashed potato or sweet potato. For sweet potato mash I pop whole un-peeled ones in the oven at 190/200 degrees for about 1hr20. They steam inside their skins and make a delicious mash. Much less watery than when steamed or boiled.
This pie freezes really well so make double and pop one away for a lazy winter day!
I often add lightly steamed broccoli to the mixture to bulk up the veggies. Otherwise serve with peas, beans or a green salad.
Annabel Bower graduated from the world renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland seventeen years ago. Annabel has since worked in events and catering and her present focus is on recipe development and food styling. As a mum of three and a passionate foodie, Annabel spends most of her time in the kitchen! Her favourite people to cook for are friends and family and even though like all children, her kids won’t eat everything she cooks, she is determined to keep trying and happily share a few of her fail-safe, crowd-pleasing recipes with you!
