Chicken and Mushroom Pie

A pie like this would once have been a regular midweek meal at home, and you wouldn’t see it on restaurant menus. On our menu, though, it is a perennial hit. The filling is flavoursome and rich, with a little touch of dried porcini giving a really deep savouriness.

- 2 tsp olive oil
- 45g butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 100g celery, diced
- 200g leeks, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 10g fresh tarragon sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
- 700g skinless chicken thigh meat, cut in 4–5cm chunks
- 1 heaped tbsp dried porcini
- 300ml chicken stock
- 100ml white wine
- 25g plain white flour
- 200ml double cream
- 1 heaped tbsp dijon mustard
- 200g button mushrooms, halved
- salt and white pepper

To Finish

- 700g puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten

1. Heat the oil and 25g of the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Sweat the onion, celery and half the leeks for about 10 minutes or until soft and translucent.

2. Add the garlic, tarragon, chicken, dried porcini, stock, wine and ½ teaspoon salt. Cover and cook on a low heat for 30–45 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

3. Pour into a sieve set over a bowl, to strain the cooking liquid. Reserve the chicken mixture.

4. Melt the remaining 20g butter in a clean pan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2–3 minutes until bubbling. Gradually whisk in the cooking liquid and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the cream and mustard and check the seasoning. Remove from the heat.

5. Add the chicken mixture, mushrooms and remaining leeks to the sauce and mix together. Allow to cool completely.

6. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Butter the inside of a 28–30cm oval pie dish that is at least 8cm deep.

7. Roll out the pastry on a well-floured board to a thickness of 3mm. Cut out an oval piece of pastry to line the dish. The pastry needs to be long and wide enough to cover the bottom and sides of the dish, with some extra for overhang. Place in the dish, leaving the edges hanging over the sides. Brush the overhang with a little beaten egg.

8. Fill with the cold pie filling. Cut a piece of pastry for the lid – this should be slightly larger than the dish – and lay it over the filling. Dip your fingers in flour and pinch the edges of the lid to the edges of the pastry lining the dish, to seal them together. Trim off excess pastry with a knife.

9. Cut three or four 1cm slits in the lid, to allow steam to escape during baking. Brush the lid with beaten egg to glaze. Bake for 35–40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling around the edges and through the slits in the lid. Serve hot.

Find out more about Canteen: Great British Food

Watch chef Cass Titcombe cooking this recipe