This is one of my family’s favourite recipes. The preparation time on this one isn’t quick, so I always choose to prepare on the weekend, rather than a week night. And I now like to make the filling in double quantity and freeze the extra portion for a quick meal on a week day.

This recipe lends itself really well to using up leftover chicken from a roast, but equally, you can just oven bake some chicken breasts, wrapped in foil, if that is what you have available.

Serves 4

Ingredients – Filling

• 1 medium green pepper – sliced
• 50g button mushrooms – wiped and cut into quarters (though tinned mushrooms also work just as well)
• 10g butter
• 400g cooked chicken – shredded/chopped up small
• 4 rashers of streaky bacon – chopped
• 1 leek – chopped

Sauce

• 25g butter
• 25g white flour
• 150-200ml chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons of double cream
• Dash of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon of dried tarragon

Base and Topping

• 1 pack of ready made puff pastry (500g)
• 1 egg – beaten

Method

• Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7
• Fry off the bacon until the edges are just crisping up
• Blanch the pepper for 2-3 minutes in a saucepan of boiling salted water, then drain, and set aside
• Saute the mushrooms and leeks in the 10g butter for 2-3 minutes, then set aside.
• For the sauce, melt the 25g butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Turn down the heat and add the flour. I find it best to lift it off the heat temporarily whilst I mix the two, as this avoids the mixture becoming burnt. Pour in the chicken stock, slowly, stirring constantly to ensure an even consistency. Then turn up the heat, and continue stirring, until simmering. Add the cream and reduce until the sauce has thickened, and has a syrup like consistency. Then add the lemon juice and tarragon.
• Turn off the heat, add the chicken, bacon, peppers, leeks and mushrooms to the pan. Mix thoroughly, so that everything is coated in the sauce. Set aside.
• Butter an ovenproof dish large enough to the hold the chicken pie mixture with room to spare. I find the low calorie oil sprays also work really well for this part.
• Cut 2/3 of the ready made puff pastry, and then roll it out on a floured work surface until it is large enough to line the ovenproof dish. Then add the chicken mixture to the dish.
• Roll out the remaining puff pastry on a floured work surface, until is large enough to cover the mixture. Seal, and carefully trim the edges. Use the trimmings to make cut-out shapes to decorate the surface of the pie. Cut a couple of air hols with a knife to allow the steam to escape. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg,
• Bake the pie in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. The top should be nicely browned and the filling piping hot. Remove, allow to cool slightly, and serve.