Chicken and Leek Pie

My sister-in-law passed on this recipe to me which she enjoyed making at home, she used puff pastry instead because, sometimes filo pastry is difficult to buy in Donegal. Make sure you thoroughly wash the leeks to prevent any nasty surprises. Thank you once again Pauline for a tasty recipe.

Serves: 4

Ingredients
1 tbsp Olive oil
4 Large chicken breasts, cubed, or 375g cooked chicken
1 tsp Butter
3 Large leeks, washed and cut into 1cm thick rounds
1 tbsp Plain flour
125ml White wine
200ml Chicken stock
100g Light cream cheese
1 tbsp Chopped parsley
1 tbsp Olive oil
1-2 Sheets filo pastry

Method
Heat the olive oil in a sturdy frying pan and cook the chicken until tender for about 5-10 minutes until cooked, stirring often. Remove from the pan and leave on one side. Omit this stage if you are using cooked chicken.

Add 1 teaspoon of butter to the same pan over a medium heat and soften the leeks, without colouring, for 5 minutes. Sprinkle over the flour and cook, stirring all the time, for a further 2 minutes.

Stir in the wine and chicken stock and bring to a simmer – cook for about 5 minutes – until lightly thickened. Add the cream cheese and stir until it has melted into the sauce. Add a dash of water if it looks a tad too thick.

Return the chicken to the pan and add the parsley. Then spoon the mixture into a shallow, 1 litre ovenproof pie dish and leave to cool. Brush the edge of the pie dish with olive oil.

Unroll the filo pastry and lay a sheet of pastry over the pie dish. Brush with olive oil then repeat with the other sheet.

Scrunch up the filo pastry and brush or spray with olive oil. Bake in a preheated over at 190C/350F Gas Mark 5 for about 30-35 minutes, until golden and serve straight from the dish.