Once you know just how easy pre-rolled puff pastry is to work with, you’ll be looking for any opportunity to use it again. So, let me help by highlighting these patisserie-style salted caramel pear tarts.
Chicken and leek pie
Pies have been gracing tables since ancient Greek times, but dare I say it, there is nothing like a solid British pie. They just seem to do them right. You can expect chunky meat, or vegetables, or both, filled to the pastry roof, and insulated by a thick, oozy gravy. Pastry could be a delicate puff that drifts like falling snow when forked, or a crumbly, buttery shortcrust. This chicken and leek pie is meat and vegetable in equal measure. I’ve used puff pastry; I prefer it as it is lighter and think it goes best with this mildly sweet and tender filling. I believe in puff for all chicken-filled pies, including chicken and mushroom. However, I am partial to a classic steak and ale pie. Robust and masculine, it is full of boisterous meaty beef flavour and bitter ale. And better suited to a sturdy shortcrust top. Although I’ve been UK-based for more than a decade, I am yet to try a steak and Stilton pie, which is another high-ranking pie recipe here. And as for steak and kidney, I might need another decade for that one. And if you really want to go full flat-cap-and-whippet, take a trip to your local farmer’s market or butcher’s and shop for ingredients for wild rabbit and pheasant pie. What’s your favourite?
Leek recipes
Leeks are a hardy vegetable and in season during cool to cold months in the UK. Desperately underrated, this long, pale green, multi-layered allium has a multitude of uses: – soups, either as a base vegetable like in this nutritious chicken vegetable soup or co-starring in the famously British leek and potato soup. – as a side dish; sautéed creamy leeks, oven-roasted, gratinated. – with fish like salmon, or cod, for example baked cod with mustard sauce, or crab leek and mushroom lasagna. – in a creamy pasta like carmelised leek and pancetta linguine. But what does leek actually taste like? It’s kind of like a mellow onion. When cooked they turn divinely soft and silky and are delicious buttered, with cream or with cheese. Finally, a tip: If you’re ever short of an onion, you can use a leek instead.
Serving suggestions
A good pie deserves a good mash. Mashed potato is the ideal accompaniment to soak up the oozy gravy from the pie. I have 5 recipes on the blog, including a sweet potato and swede mash! To compliment a chicken pie though, I would go for Irish mashed potatoes (champ recipe), it’s smooth, buttery and comforting, with a bright pop of green onion slices. While the leeks in the pie count as a vegetable portion, I’m a two veg kind of girl. Miso roasted carrots are dazzlingly sweet and savoury and bring a firmer texture to the meal. Using rainbow carrots makes for a colourful addition too.
Storage and leftovers
Pies are easy freezers and a godsend when you’ve run out of inspiration. Once assembled and cooled, wrap with foil and it will keep in the freezer for 2-3 months. This means skipping the oven part until the pie is needed. So handy! Any leftovers from dinner will keep in the fridge, covered, for 2 -3 days. To reheat, microwave for 2-2 ½ minutes, or put in a pre-heated oven at 180C/350F for 10.
More pie recipes to try:
Easy Fish Pie Turkey Marsala Pot Pie Classic Steak and Ale Pie Chicken Pot Pie with Roasted Vegetables Chicken and Mushroom Pie
