This is a lovely chicken pie recipe and you can put so many different ingredients in it to suit all tastes.  If you don’t have filo pastry, you can use puff or even put some mash on the top.  This week I have used peas and sweetcorn as veg, but could equally have added some spinach or broccoli.  Then I noticed I had some mushrooms in the fridge so added them as an afterthought!  I was pleased to say that when I did my weekly shop, there was little left in the fridge from the previous week due to me adapting recipes with whatever is to hand.

Oven 180 degrees

Serves 4

Ingredients

4-6 skinless chicken thighs

1 tbsp olive oil

4 rashers of streaky bacon chopped in bite sized pieces

2 leeks thinly sliced

100g peas

100g sweet corn

100g sliced mushrooms (optional)

3 tbsp plain flour

200ml Chicken stock

100ml white wine

200ml crème fraiche

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp tarragon

Packet of filo pastry around 6 sheets

Knob of melted butter

Method

1. Chop the chicken and season. Heat oil in a pan and fry chicken pieces until , then transfer to a plate
2. Add the chopped bacon to the pan until golden – should take around 5 mins, then add the leeks and mushrooms (if using) and fry for an additional 5 mins
3. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture in the pan and stir well, then pour in the wine and let it bubble for a minute before adding the stock. Cook for a few minutes to enable the sauce to thicken, then add the cooked chicken
4. Next stir in the crème fraiche, mustard, peas, sweet corn (or whatever vegetables you wish to use) and tarragon. If the mixture is becoming too thick, add additional stock
5. Put the mixture into a casserole dish
6. Take a sheet of the filo and crumple it up in your hand and place on the casserole – repeat with as many sheets as required to cover the pie
7. Brush the pastry with melted butter
8. Place in the oven for around 20 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden

Karen’s tip – if you can get hold of fresh tarragon use it!  It has a wonderful flavour and can be used in many dishes. 1 tsp of dried equates to around 2 of fresh