Mini Chicken and Leek Pies

Chicken and leek make an amazing combo, and when incorporated into a pie, they turn into my kind of comfort food. Absolutely! Homemade chicken and leek pies always taste better, and they are easy to make too.

The filling is a delicious sauce made with tender chicken bits, leeks and some carrots. You can replace carrots with any vegetable of your choice like zucchini, broccoli, potatoes, green peas or green beans. If you love spicy food, add a pinch of chili powder. For the outer pastry shell, I used puff pastry. I love all the extra flakiness.

So what do you think about these little pies? Scrumptious, right?

Before we start, preheat oven at 200ºC. Heat oil and butter in a large frying pan. Add chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Fry.

When chicken is cooked, use a spoon to break them into small pieces.

Add leek and carrot. Mix well. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Don’t forget to stir occasionally.

Add garlic. Mix well. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add flour. Stir constantly, and fry for 2 minutes.

Add chicken stock, 1/3 cup water and dried rosemary. Mix well.

You can now increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Then reduce heat. Simmer until the sauce becomes thick. When done, season with more ground black pepper. Remove from heat. Set aside.

Now you have to cut  out 20 large circles and 20 small circles from the puff pastry sheets. Grease the 2 – 12 hole muffin tins with oil or cooking spray.

Now place these large circles in the muffin tin holes. Fill them with chicken mixture. Top with the smaller pastry circles.

Gently press the sides to seal them.

Use a small knife to make small slits on the pastries.

Prepare egg wash by whisking together 1 egg and a dash of milk in a small bowl. Brush the mixture on the pastries. Bake the pies for 30-35 minutes.

Hot pies straight out of the oven. YUM!

 

 

Yield: 20 mini pies

Mini Chicken and Leek Pies

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A mini version of rich and hearty chicken pies in a flaky puff pastry shell/crust.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 600g boneless chicken, cut into cubes (I used 2 breast fillets)
• 1 large leek, (white part only) sliced (2 cups leek)
• 1 large carrot, finely chopped (1 cup)
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp plain flour (or all purpose flour)
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 4 puff pastry sheets, thawed
• 1 egg
• Milk
• Water
• Salt and black pepper, to season

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan forced).
2. Heat oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Fry, turning occasionally, for 7-10 minutes or until browned. Use a spoon to break down the cooked chicken into smaller pieces.
3. Add leek and carrot. Saute, stirring occasionally, for 1-2 minutes, or until tender. Stir in garlic, and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with flour. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add in chicken stock slowly, stirring constantly until smooth. Stir in rosemary and 1/3 cup water. Increase heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season with black pepper. Remove from heat.
4. Grease two 12 hole muffin tins with cooking spray or oil. Use a large (7.5 cm) cookie cutter to cut out 20 circles from the thawed pastry sheets. Place the circles in the muffin tin holes carefully. Fill them with chicken mixture. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out 20 small circles to form the tops of the pastries. Place the circles on top of the muffin tin holes. Gently press down the sides to seal them. Use a small knife to make some holes on the pastries.
5. In a separate small bowl, whisk together 1 egg and a dash of milk. Brush the egg mixture on the pastries. Place the pies on the lower rack of a preheated oven for 30-15 minutes.

Notes

You can use leftover roast chicken or even turkey in this recipe. But add them once the leek and carrots are cooked.
I prefer puff pastry to make these pies, but you can choose short crust pastry to line the tins.
You can replace dried rosemary with dried thyme or chives.
Don’t hesitate to add your favorite vegetables to these pies to make them more nutritious like zucchini, corn, mushrooms or green peas

Nutrition Information

Yield

20

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 121Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 39mgSodium 111mgCarbohydrates 5gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 10g