I’ve said before just how much a I love a roast chicken on a Sunday, but it does mean I have to think about how to use the leftovers for a midweek dinner. I usually make pasties with puff pastry, chicken, tomato and pesto but I fancied a change and ended up finding a recipe for Chicken Pie on the Good Food site. It sounded pretty simple but the end result was greater than the sum of its parts. The chicken is used alongside mushrooms, leek and bacon in an easy to make sauce. It was genuinely impressive and a really good way of using up leftovers. I will absolutely be making this again in the future.

KB rating 8.5/10. PR rating 8/10

Chicken Pie (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of ready rolled puff pastry
• Half a cooked chicken (or turkey)
• 1 leek, chopped (or onion)
• ½ packet of smoked streaky bacon cut into little pieces
• ¾ oz sliced mushrooms
• 1 vegetable stock cube dissolved in 1 cup of water (approx 240ml)
• ½ cup milk (approx 120ml)
• 1 oz plain flour
• ½ oz butter and a little oil (vegetable or olive)

Method:

Strip carcass of chicken, cutting meat into large pieces. If you prefer you can buy uncooked boneless chicken but you would need to pre-cook it at this stage.

Saute leek (or onion), bacon and mushrooms in the butter and oil. When soft, add flour.

Add stock, stirring continuously then add the milk so that the sauce is rich and creamy. If the sauce is a little thick, add more liquid.

Add the pre-cooked chicken, and stir carefully until meat is completed coated and empty contents into a large pie dish.

Cover with pastry, making a vent in the pie top, and brush with milk.

Bake in oven on a high temperature (200C/400F/gas 6) for around 25 mins or until golden.

Tip: With the stockcube and bacon, there is no need for extra seasoning however, you could substitute some of the stock with a little leftover white wine.