Chicken and mushroom pie

Chicken and mushroom pie

Serves 6

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.

Ingredients:

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 (p202)

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. Assemble and bake the pie (see Spicy mutton pie, p90, steps 5–8). Serve hot.

Watch a video demonstration from Canteen above.

Canteen's ' Best British Food', published by Ebury , is out now.