John Torode's warming hen, mushroom & leek pie is bound to be a crowd-pleaser. Benefit from the succulent hen and crisp puff pastry with a dollop of tomato ketchup

• Preparation and cooking time
  • Prep:25 minutes
  • Cook dinner:1 hr and 10 minutes
• Simple
• Serves 6 – 8

• Freezable (unbaked)

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Substances

• 4 massive hen breasts
• 4 skinless boneless hen thighs
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ small pack thyme
• ½ small pack flat-leaf parsley, leaves and stalks separated
• 2 massive onions, chopped
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 hen inventory dice, crumbled
• 750ml milk, plus further to glaze
• 100g butter
• 3 leeks, chopped
• 300g button mushrooms, halved
• 100g plain flour, plus further for dusting
• 200ml crème fraîche
• 500g puff pastry
• ketchup, to serve (elective)

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Technique

• STEP 1

  Put the hen in a big pan with the bay, half the thyme sprigs, the parsley stalks, onions, garlic, inventory and seasoning. Pour the milk over the hen and, if you’ll want to, high up with water to ensure the hen is roofed. Convey the hen to the boil, then flip down and simmer for 15 minutes. Raise from the liquid and depart to chill.

• STEP 2

  Drain the poaching liquid by way of a sieve into a big jug – you want 650ml to make the sauce to your pie.

• STEP 3

  In the meantime, warmth the butter in a saucepan over a low-medium warmth. Add the leeks and the mushrooms, and cook dinner for 5-10 minutes till smooth, then season effectively. Add the flour and stir to coat the greens. Slowly add the poaching liquid, stirring till you might have a thick sauce.

• STEP 4

  Utilizing two forks, pull the hen aside into thumb-sized chunks relatively than chopping it – I really feel you get a much better pie this manner. Chop the parsley leaves, then stir into the leeks with the thyme leaves, crème frâiche and hen. Examine the seasoning, then spoon the combination into your pie dish (or dishes) to chill barely.

• STEP 5

  Warmth oven to 220C/200C fan/fuel 7. Roll out the pastry on a frivolously dusted work floor to the thickness of a £1 coin. Reduce skinny strips from the perimeters and use somewhat water to stay these across the lip of the pie dish, then moist the highest of the pastry strip. Raise the pastry on high of the pie, trim the perimeters and crimp them along with your fingers or a fork. Brush the highest with milk and minimize a steam gap within the center.

• STEP 6

  Put the dish on a baking sheet and cook dinner within the oven for 20-25 minutes till the pastry is risen and golden. Among the filling can have bubbled up by way of the steam gap. Have a bottle of tomato ketchup readily available to serve, should you like – and watch out, the pie might be scorching.