Chicken, Leek & Tarragon One Pot Pie
MAKES INDIVIDUAL SERVES OR 2 LARGE POT PIES
Chicken and French tarragon, one of my favourite herbs and one that I tend to hoard and use when ever possible when in season. Both the topping and filling make a substantial amount and can be made and stored in seperate containers in your fridge for up to 4 days.
FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING
Makes a substantial amount, so store what you don’t use in your fridge for up to 4 days.
160g freekeh, cooked, drained and chilled
200g cold butter, cut into small cubes
100g flour
80g Parmesan
½ cup chopped parsley
In a food processor, combine all ingredients, (freekeh and butter must be chilled). Pulse until all ingredients combine and resemble a rough crumble mixture. Chill.
FOR THE FILLING
3 large chicken breasts
2 fresh bay leaves
250g butter
2 medium leeks
I onion, chopped
5 big cloves garlic, sliced or grated
2 carrots – see note on our I like to cut
80g flour
4 Tbsp fresh thyme
750mls chicken stock
¼ cup cream
5 Tbsp fresh roughly chopped French tarragon
salt and pepper
Poach chicken in water with bay leaves, bring gently to a boil and simmer until chicken is just cooked, strain, allow to cool and finely shred, reserve to one side.
Slice the leeks thinly, keeping them round, then separate the sliced rounds so you have rings. Cook them in 100g butter, until they are soft. Don’t fry them they don’t want any colour, but they do want to soften. Once cooked reserve to one side.
In the same pan melt remaining 150g butter, add onions, garlic and carrots and sauté until soft.
Add flour and fresh thyme and cook out the flour for 2or 3mins, now add stock 250mls at a time, stirring all the time, to ensure you have no lumps and a thick silky sauce, add shredded chicken, reserved leeks, cream and tarragon. You should have a nicely following pie mix, if it to firm add more stock or cream. Season with S + P and taste.
At this stage you can assemble and cook or assemble and chill until you are ready to eat.
Fill individual ramekins or one large dish with pie filling, then top with a good layer of crumble topping. Bake at 200c for 20 to 30mins until topping is golden and mixture is bubbling.
NOTES
I have never been a fan of cutting vegetables into fine square dice but rather turn to that rustic farmhouse approach, Therefore with the carrot I peel, chop into quarters and whizz roughly in a food processor to get a roughly diced carrot.
You could use a whole chicken, poach the whole bird exactly the same, once cooked pull out the chicken, let cool, then shred… saving the water to use as chicken stock.
For a more in depth chicken favour, there are some great stock cubes/jellies currently on the shelves, which a quire often pop into a sauce for a deeper flavour.
If you can’t find fresh French tarragon, use more thyme, or dried tarragon.