Tender bites of chicken and slippery pieces of sweet leek smothered in a creamy white-wine thyme infused sauce, bubbling under a golden puff pastry crust. Chicken and Leek Pie is comfort food we dream about!
Chicken and Leek Pie
If you like bubbling pies baked under deeply golden flaky, buttery puff pastry, then this is a recipe for you. It’s cosy and comforting, and everything you dream a pie to be. The filling is smothered in a creamy sauce infused with thyme and subtle white wine flavour that’s rich but not overly so, and the leeks is what sets this pie apart from “just another chicken pie”.
Not that I’m dissing other chicken pies – there is room for many in this world. But Chicken and Leek Pie is special because of the leeks and the flavour it brings to the pie. What flavour, you ask? Think – sweeter, milder version of onion. And because it’s a gentle flavour, we can use a good amount of leeks in this recipe. Two whole leeks, in actual fact. Because if we’re going to put Leek in the recipe name, let’s make sure we can actually taste the leek!
Hard to stuff up!
When you scroll through the step photos and even the ingredients section, it might seem a little involved and fussy because of the amount of information I’ve included. But I promise it’s not. I’m just being extra generous on the instructional visuals front to make sure that leek-first-timers and pie-first-timers can approach this recipe with confidence!
And actually, it’s hard to stuff up this recipe. The worst that might happen is that the sauce is a little on the thin side because you didn’t simmer it long enough or you mis-measured the flour. Hardly a disaster because the flavour is still in there!
Ingredients in Chicken and Leek Pie
Here’s what you need to make this recipe.
pie filling
No surprises here. Though bacon is probably the something you don’t see in typical recipes. We only use 3 little strips but it goes a long way to make the filling extra scrumptious. 🙂
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Leeks! The hero ingredient. The tastier onion! It brings so much flavour into this pie, not just the leek bits themselves but also flavouring the sauce.
Having said that though, when leeks are out of season / extortionately expensive, you can make this pie with 2 big regular onions. We might have to drop the word “Leek” out of the name, but it’s still a darn delicious pie!
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Boneless chicken thighs – I prefer to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs rather than breast because it stays juicier in pies. You really can’t avoid overcooking chicken breast in a pie like this where it’s cooked twice (in the filling on the stove then in the pie in the oven). If you really prefer to use breast, it’s best to shred it. See FAQ and directions in the recipe card notes.
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Bacon – As noted above, adds an extra something-something into this pie! Be sure to use streaky bacon (ie the bacon bits streaked with fat) as the recipe relies on the fat to sauté the leek. If you use lean bacon, you’ll probably need an extra dab of butter.
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Celery – I like the flavour celery brings into this pie and also that it blends into the filling because I deliberately make the filling for this pie without any bright splashes of colour from peas or carrots. Makes it different from other pies, like Chicken Pot Pie!
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Garlic – Rare to see a savoury recipe without it on my website, and this pie is no exception!
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Thyme and bay leaves – Use fresh if you can, though dried is fine as an alternative. Note: if you use dried thyme rather than fresh sprigs, you will get little dark specks in your sauce. Also, fresh thyme sprigs sort of “perfumes” the sauce in a way that dried leaves do not. Kind of like using cinnamon sticks rather than powder in, say, curries, tagines, pilafs etc.
creamy sauce for the pie
Here’s what you need to make the creamy sauce for the pie.
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Butter – The fat of choice for this dish! Unsalted butter is preferred. If using salted butter, start with less salt than per the recipe ingredients, then adjust at the end.
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Chicken stock/broth and cream – These are the liquids that we use to make this sauce. Chicken stock has more flavour than using just water. And cream is richer and has a more luscious mouth feel than using milk, though you could substitute with milk if you don’t have cream (I’d add a dab of extra butter), or if you really want to reduce the calories in this recipe.
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Flour – This is what thickens the sauce. Just use plain / all-purpose flour. Though actually, self raising and wholemeal flour will work fine too.
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White wine – I almost always deglaze my pan using wine for sauces. Deglazing simply means using a liquid to a dissolve gold bits stuck on the base of the pan from sautéing things (chicken, leek etc, in this case) into the liquid because it’s free flavour. You could use water or stock, but wine adds more flavour because it has more complexity and depth. We cook out the alcohol so it doesn’t taste winey at all.
Type of wine – Chardonnay is my default white wine these days, for the best flavour and best all-rounder for cooking. But any dry white wine will work fine here. Just avoid anything too sweet or too woody.
Substitute with non alcoholic white wine or more chicken stock/broth. Don’t worry, the sauce will still be delicious!
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Dijon mustard – This adds flavour into the sauce but is not a dominant flavour so you can skip it if you have an aversion to mustard. You could also substitute with wholegrain mustard (also lovely!).
puff pastry
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Puff pastry – Here in Australia, standard grocery-store puff pastry comes in 20cm/8″ sheets which are just a touch too small for most baking dishes and large pie dishes. So I just connect two sheets using egg whites (the yolks is used to brush the pastry to make it golden in the oven).
If you get a large sheet of puff pastry (eg Careme which is a premium brand), you won’t need to do the sealing.
Butter puff recommended! Butter puff pastry is made with butter whereas just regular puff pastry is made with oil. Butter puff is tastier! It also puffs up better and bakes more golden. The packet will be labelled as “Butter Puff Pastry” and costs a little more than non-butter puff pastry. Worth it, in my opinion.
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Egg – As noted above, we use the egg white to connect the puff pastry sheets, and the egg yolk to brush the lid of the pie so it bakes a beautiful golden brown. You will have a little egg white left over – toss it into your morning scrambled eggs or omelette!
How to make Chicken and Leek Pie
I’m providing a fair few step photos to make this a straightforward recipe even for people new to cooking with leek and making creamy pie fillings. But I promise it’s quite straightforward!
1. How I cut the leek
I prefer cutting the leek into small bit size squares rather than slicing rings which I find feels a little too stringy “spaghetti-like” for the amount of leek used in this pie. Larger pieces also means you bite into more leek flavour which seems appropriate for a Chicken and Leek Pie! 😇
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Trim off the root and the dark green part of the leek. This part is reedy and not pleasant to eat. Discard or clean then add to your homemade vegetable stock.
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Cut the leek in half through the middle. Just to make it shorter which is easier to cut in half lengthways (next step).
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Cut the leek in half lengthways.
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Separate the outer 5 layers or so from the core. If at this stage you notice dirt between the layers, give it a wash but try to keep the layers intact to make your cutting-life simpler / efficient.
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Cut outer layers into squares – Cut the outer layers in half lengthways again, stack, then cut into 1.8 cm/0.75″ pieces to make square / rectangle pieces.
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Inner core – Cut into 2cm / 0.8″ pieces.
Leek, cut! Cooking time.
2. How to make the filling
The filling for the pie is a roux-based creamy filling (ie a flour-thickened filling). I’ve used cream to make it extra luxurious and pie-worthy but you can substitute with milk to cut down on the calories.
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Seal chicken – Melt half the butter in a large non-stick pan over high heat. Then cook the chicken just until the surface changes from pink to white. We’re not trying to brown the chicken here (it won’t, the pan is too full), nor cook it through because the chicken will cook further in the sauce and in the oven. Just seal the surface.
Then remove the chicken using a slotted spoon into a bowl. Leave the juices and residual butter in the pan, we will use it to cook the filling.
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Bacon – For the filling, start by cooking the bacon in the same pan for 1 minute. By giving it a head start, we get the tasty bacon fat melting in the pan which we use to cook everything else.
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Sauté – Then add the leek, celery and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until the celery and leek are softened. Don’t let them brown, so lower the heat if needed.
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Deglaze the pan using the white wine. By this, I mean add the wine into the pan and stir, scraping the base of the pan so anything stuck to it dissolves into the wine. Then let the wine simmer rapidly until the wine is mostly evaporated (which is the alcohol cooking out, leaving behind just tasty flavour).
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Roux – Add the remaining butter and stir it in until melted*. Then scatter the flour across the surface of the pan rather than dumping it in one place (makes it easier to mix in). Stir for 30 seconds to cook off the flour. The pasty flour mixture stuck on the leek is called a “roux” and this is what thickens our pie filling to make it beautifully creamy.
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Creamy sauce – While stirring, slowly pour the chicken stock / broth into the pan. Then keep mixing to dissolve the roux into the liquid so the mixture in the pan thickens into a thick creamy sauce. Don’t worry if there are still roux-lumps, they will continue dissolving as we simmer the sauce.
* See FAQ for why I do this butter melting step just before adding the flour to make the roux for this recipe.
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Finish sauce – Then add the cream, mustard, salt and pepper, bayleaves and thyme, and stir it in. Return the chicken into the pan along with all the juices that collected in the bowl (free flavour!).
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Simmer the sauce for 3 to 5 minutes until it has thickened into quite a thick creamy texture.
Goal sauce thickness – The sauce thickness at this stage is pretty much what it it will be when the pie comes out of the oven, so make it the thickness you want.
Cool – Remove the pan from the stove and let the filling cool for an hour. It needs to be cool else the heat will melt the butter in the puff pastry on contact and won’t puff up as much in the oven. Shortcut: spread the filling on a tray (30 minutes should do it). You can also keep the filling for 3 – 4 days in the fridge and finish the pie on another day.
Filling done. Let’s assemble!
3. Assembling the pie
You can bake this pie in one large dish (any shape – rectangle, round, oval) or ramekins. I use a 1.5 litre / 1.5 quart baking dish which is the right size for the amount of filling this recipe makes.
TIP: Use semi-thawed rather than fully-thawed puff pastry. It is much easier to handle. Fully thawed puff can get sloppy and sticky!
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Connect puff pastry – If needed. Standard frozen puff pastry in Australia are 20cm / 8″ squares which is a little short for most casserole pans and pie dishes suitable for baking chicken and leek pie in.
To connect the sheets, brush the edge of a semi-thawed sheet with egg white, connect the two sheets then use the back of a spoon to “smear” the seam together.
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Cut the pie lid from the puff pastry. Use your chosen pie baking vessel as the outline.
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Strips (optional) – You can only do this if the rim of your pie dish is wide enough, to use up leftover puff pastry to make an impressive extra thick pie edge! Just cut four strips from the remaining puff pastry, wide enough to sit on the rim of your dish.
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Line the rim of the pie dish with these strips. Just place them on, no need to brush with egg (it adheres too strongly, nightmare to serve. Been there, done that!).
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Fill the pie pan or baking dish with the cooled filling.
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Lid – Brush the pastry strips with egg white then place the lid on. Press to seal the edges.
Note: If you are not using pastry strips along the rim, don’t brush the rim with egg whites as the lid will adhere too strongly to the baking dish.
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Brush the lid with egg yolk, cut a cross in the middle.
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Bake for 45 minutes until it’s deep golden all across the surface of the pie. Pull it out then yay! Time to eat!
Good one to make ahead
Pies like this are excellent for making ahead. You can make the filling and refrigerate it for 3 – 4 days, then assemble the pie when you’re ready.
Or you can assemble the pie with the puff pastry then refrigerate for 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months, though be mindful that it will take up to 48 hours to fully thaw in the fridge (it’s a formidable block of ice!). The puff pastry will puff a little less than assembling and baking it straight away, but it’s a very small compromise for the convenience (puff pastry puffs the best with minimal handling, when thawed once, assembled then baked straight away. The more times you thaw > freeze > thaw etc, or refrigerate, the less it puffs).
Put it this way. If I were to make this pie for company, I’d make the filling the day before and assemble and bake on the day of. For any other purpose, I wouldn’t hesitate to assemble ahead, puff pastry and all, then bake on demand.
Hope you enjoy! – Nagi x
FAQ
For chicken breast (if that’s all you’ve got or really prefer to use that instead), it would be much better to shred it instead. Using it in bite size pieces isn’t ideal because you cannot avoid overcooking it in a recipe like this where it is twice cook (first on the stove in the filling then in the oven).
To make shredded chicken breast, split it in half horizontally to form 2 thin steaks. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper, pan sear to cook in the butter (be really careful not to overcook it, if anything, undercook it). Cool a bit, shred, then mix it through the filling right at the end (ie don’t simmer in the sauce).
Use onion instead! 2 big brown / yellow or white onions.
I use this technique to reduce the amount of butter needed to make a roux. Basically, if you put all the butter in at the beginning of the recipe (we use (50 g/3.5 tbsp), there is not enough fat to make a pasty roux when we add the flour, because it’s so thoroughly mixed through all the leek, bacon etc. The roux ends up dry and crumby which makes it hard to dissolve lump free into the liquids.
So instead, I hold back half the butter (we have enough fat for sautéing because of the bacon) then melt it in the pan just before adding the flour, which provides enough fat to make a good pasty roux. Works a treat!
I don’t always use this method because it’s an extra step. I use it only when I’m trying to manage the fat in a recipe. For this recipe, you need 50% more butter if you add it all at the start to sauté the leek etc.
PS I use this method for pan sautéing mushrooms too, and eggplant cubes. Anything that is a sponge for oil!
Mistake! Got so caught up cutting strips I just kept cutting. 😂 I spritzed those leftover strips with olive oil, sprinkled with parmesan and cracked black pepper, baked until golden and got to munch on them for afternoon tea.
You sure can! This recipe makes enough for 4 very large ramekins (think – hearty male appetite size) or 5 standard-meal-size ramekins.
Absolutely. Actually, I was torn whether to do that version or this one. I ended up choosing this one because it’s much more straight forward than an enclosed pie version.
To make this as a pie with a pastry base, assemble the pie using my Family Meat Pie but just switch the meat pie filling with this Chicken and Leek filling. The meat pie recipe also includes the recipe for shortcut pastry for the base (which is blind baked so it doesn’t go soggy once filled).
You could also make individual pies using my individual size Meat Pie recipe!
Not really. You can make the filling gluten free by using cornflour instead of flour to thicken it. but there is still flour in the puff pastry. Sorry!
Watch how to make it
Chicken and Leek Pie
I cut my leeks in a specific way. I like larger pieces rather than thinly sliced rings which get too soggy-stringy for my taste. Also, if you don’t like / can’t get puff pastry, cover this pie in mash (like Cottage Pie!) or use a homemade shortcrust pastry.
Make one big pie like I’ve done, or ramekins (makes 4 large, 5 regular). For a pie with a base, replace the filling in my Family Meat Pie or individual meat pies.
Ingredients
- 50g/ 3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter , divided
- 750g/ 1.5lb chicken thighs , skinless, boneless, cut into 1.8 cm / 3/4″ bite size pieces (Note 1)
- 1/4 tsp each black pepper and cooking salt (kosher salt)
Pie filling:
- 80g / 3 oz streaky bacon , chopped into 1cm / 0.4″ squares (Note 2)
- 2 leeks (Note 3)
- 2 celery stems , sliced 4 mm / 0.2″ thick (cut thick end in half lengthways first)
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 1/3 cup chardonnay or other dry white wine (Note 4)
- 1/4 cup flour (plain / all-purpose)
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard (Note 5)
- 2 thyme sprigs (or 1/2 tsp dried thyme)
- 2 bay leaves (preferably fresh, else dried)
- 1 cup chicken stock / broth , low sodium
- 1 cup thickened / heavy cream (or any full-fat cream, or sub milk for lower fat)
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Pie:
- 2 x 20cm / 8″ frozen butter puff pastry sheets , or single sheet large enough to cover baking dish, 360g / 12 oz (Note 6)
- 1 egg , yolk and whites separated, lightly whisked
Instructions
ABBREVIATED:
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Sear surface of chicken in half butter, remove. Cook bacon 1 minute, then leek, celery and garlic 5 minutes. Deglaze with wine, melt remaining butter, then cook flour 1 minute. Add stock, then remaining Filling ingredients. Add chicken, thicken sauce (~5 minutes).
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Cool filling 1 hour, assemble pie (connect puff sheets with egg whites), brush lid with yolk, bake 45 minutes 200°C/375°F (180°C fan).
FULL RECIPE:
Cut leek (step photos above helpful):
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Trim the reedy dark green ends and root off, then cut in half. Cut each piece in half lengthways. Remove the outer 5 to 6 layers (keep them together), lay them flat, cut in half lengthways then into 1.8cm / 3/4″ squares. Cut the inner core into 2cm / 0.8″ pieces.
Filling:
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Chicken – Melt half the butter in a large pan over high heat. Add the chicken, salt and pepper. Cook until the surface changes from pink to white (inside still raw), then remove into a bowl using a slotted spoon. Leave residual butter and chicken juices in the pan.
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Sauté – In the same pan, cook the bacon for 1 minute. Add the leek, celery and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes until the celery is softened. Don’t let the leek brown – lower the heat if needed.
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Deglaze – Add the wine and simmer rapidly on high heat, stirring, until it is mostly evaporated.
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Roux – Lower the heat to medium. Add the remaining butter. Once it melts, sprinkle the flour across the surface (don’t dump in one place) and stir for 1 minute.
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Creamy sauce – While stirring, slowly pour the stock in. The mixture will thicken into a thick sauce once combined. Then add the mustard, cream, thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Stir to combine, then add the chicken including all the juices accumulated in the bowl.
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Simmer – Increase the heat, stir to combine. Once it comes to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium high. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, or until the sauce is quite a thick creamy consistency. (Note 7 on goal thickness).
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Cool – Remove the pan from the stove and cool for 1 hour. (You can also store in fridge for 3 – 4 days).
Assembling and baking:
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Preheat the oven to 200°C/375°F (180°C fan-forced).
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Connect puff pastry sheets – Semi-thaw the puff pastry (Note 6). Brush sheet one edge with egg white, then overlap 0.5cm / 0.2″ with the other sheet to connect them. Use the back of a spoon to “smear” the pastry to hide the seam and firmly connect.
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Cut out the pie lid (I use the dish as a cutting guide).
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Optional strips (Note 8): cut strips using the residual pastry to line the rim of the dish (if your dish has a thick rim, like mine) and place on the rim of the dish.
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Fill the pie dish with the cooled filling and smooth the surface. Brush the pastry strips on the rim with egg white (if not using strips, don’t do this step) then cover with the puff pastry lid.
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Brush the lid with egg yolk. Cut a small X in the middle.
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Bake 45 minutes or until the surface is a deep golden brown. Rest 5 minutes then serve!
Notes
For chicken breast, it’s better to shred as you can’t avoid overcooking it in this recipe as written and nobody wants dry, miserably chunks of chicken in their pie! Split in half horizontally to form 2 thin steaks. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper, sear in the butter being careful not to overcook (even under cooked is fine). Cool slightly, shred. Proceed with recipe but only stir the shredded chicken in at the very end once sauce is simmered and thickened.
2. Bacon – Use bacon streaked with fat as we need the fat for sautéing. If using lean bacon, add an extra dab of butter.
3. Leek – Leek brings a specific flavour into this pie (and it’s the namesake!) but you can absolutely make this using onions instead. Use 2 large onions (regular brown / yellow ones, or white onions).
4. Wine – Substitute with non alcoholic white wine, or chicken stock/broth.
5. Mustard – Brings a hint of flavour into the sauce but it can be omitted or substituted with wholegrain mustard (ie seeded).
6. Puff pastry tips:
- Standard grocery store puff pastry in Australia comes in 20cm/8″ squares so we need to connect 2 pieces so it’s large enough to cover the baking dish. If you get a premium brand like Careme which is larger sheets, you won’t need to do this.
- BUTTER puff pastry (labelled as such on the packet) is tastier and puffs better. It’s a little pricier than non-butter puff.
- Semi-thawed puff pastry is easier to handle than full thawed, and puffs better because it won’t accidentally stretch when handled. I let it thaw just enough so I can cut it.
7. Sauce thickness – Make it the thickness you want in the pie when it comes out of the oven as it will not thicken any further in the oven. I like mine oozy-thick.
8. Strips – This gives the pie an extra thick flaky edge! But you can only do it if your baking dish has a rim like mine.
Leftovers will keep for 3 – 4 days in the fridge but the lid will go soft. To resurrect, reheat in lid in the oven on a tray and the filling in the microwave.
Make ahead – Assemble pie per recipe and refrigerate overnight or freeze (note it will take 48 hours to thaw in the fridge). Filling can also be made ahead 3 – 4 days. Note: Puff pastry puffs best when cooked immediately upon thawing, but still puffs pretty well if thawed > frozen > thawed again and baked.
Nutrition per serving assuming 5 servings.
Nutrition
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