Recipe: The ultimate chicken pie

As the nights draw in and winter approaches, there's one silver lining - it’s pie season! To get you started, we've created the recipe for the ultimate chicken, leek and bacon pie - it pairs perfectly with creamy mash potato, some winter greens, and a large glass of either a buttery chardonnay to cut through the richness, or a light pinot noir from Pattingham Vineyards.

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 4 x skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 150g Beal's Charcuterie pancetta
• 2 x sliced leeks
• 3 x chopped carrots
• 2 x roughly chopped garlic cloves
• 1 x large onion, halved - dice one half, keep the other whole
• Large bunch parsley 
• Small bunch tarragon
• 2 x bay leaves
• Peppercorns
• 500ml whole milk
• 50g butter
• 50g flour
• 1 x tbsp English mustard
• A good pinch of Blackthorn sea salt, and freshly ground pepper
• 100g cheddar cheese(optional)
• 375g ready made puff pastry
• 1x egg yolk 

Method

• Add the whole half onion, bay leaves, garlic and a handful of whole peppercorns to the milk, and bring to a gentle simmer. Once bubbling away, add your chicken and poach for 12-15 minutes. Remove the chicken, pull apart and put in a large pie dish. Keep the poaching liquid to make your roux.

• For the roux, add the butter to a saucepan on a gentle heat. Once melted, add the flour and combine - it’s important to cook the flour off for a minute or two before you add any liquid. Next, slowly add your poaching milk through a sieve and continually whisk until you have a smooth, glossy bechamel. Add a teaspoon of English Mustard and season to taste - we like to add some rich cheddar at this point.

• Next, fry off your pancetta until crispy, rendering out all of that flavoursome fat. Remove with a slotted spoon when ready, and add to the chicken.

• Using the same pan, fry off your leeks, carrots and remaining onion in plenty of butter until soft and translucent - add a touch of oil to stop the butter from burning.

• Add your bechamel and leek mixture to the chicken and pancetta. Mix thoroughly to combine all of the flavours together.

• Add a big handful of finely chopped, fresh parsley and tarragon. Check seasoning and add salt & pepper to taste.

• Roll out the puff pastry and create a lid for your pie dish. Apply your egg wash to the top and bake at 180 degrees until golden and crispy - around 45 minutes.