Creamy Chicken Pot Pie with Flaky Puff Pastry
Chicken and vegetables in creamy sauce with flaky puff pastry crust, baked until golden. A hearty comfort food recipe.
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 2 x 11 oz (2 x 320g) rolls of ready-rolled puff pastry
Chicken Filling
- 3 chicken breasts, cut into small chunks cut into small chunks
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks peeled and chopped into chunks
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into small chunks peeled and chopped into small chunks
- good pinch salt and pepper
- 2 sprigs thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 1/2 cups chicken stock (water plus 3 stock cubes is fine) 600 ml
- 3 1/2 tbsp butter 50 g
- 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped peeled and finely chopped
- 6 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour 50 g
- 1 1/4 cups milk (half or full-fat) 300 ml
- juice of 1 lemon
Assembly and Baking
- 1 egg, slightly whisked with a fork slightly whisked with a fork
Instructions
Pie Crust
Preheat oven to 400°F:
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C fan).Line dish with puff pastry:
Line a 10 x 8 inch pie dish with one roll of the puff pastry. Prick the base several times with a fork and cut off any large overhanging bits of pastry.Blind bake pastry shell:
Line the pastry with baking parchment so that it completely covers the pastry, then fill with baking beans (or dried beans) and place in the oven to blind bake for 10 minutes. Pro tip: This helps prevent a soggy bottom. Because it's puff pastry, the sides will puff up a bit (which is fine); to prevent that, fill with more baking beans.Remove pastry from oven:
Remove from the oven and set aside.
Chicken Filling
Simmer chicken and vegetables:
Meanwhile, place the chicken, carrots, potatoes, salt, pepper, thyme, and stock into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat.Sauté onion in butter:
When the chicken and stock are nearly cooked, take another large saucepan and add the butter and chopped onion. Heat on medium and cook the onion for about 5-6 minutes until soft.Make roux with flour:
Add the flour and mix into the onions and butter using a balloon whisk. It should form a creamy paste (roux). Cook the roux for a minute while stirring with the whisk.Add stock to roux:
Add a ladle of the stock from the chicken broth (try to get mostly stock, not chicken/veggies). Stir the broth into the mixture using the whisk. Repeat until most of the stock has been ladled out from the chicken pan, leaving the chicken and veggies behind.Pour in milk and thicken:
Pour in the milk. Heat through while stirring with the whisk. The sauce should thicken as it heats.Combine sauce with chicken:
Once the sauce is almost at boiling (do not let it boil), add the chicken and veggies. Bring back to almost boiling and add half the lemon juice. Stir and taste. Add the rest of the lemon juice and more seasoning if needed.
Assembly and Baking
Fill pie shell with mixture:
Remove the baking beans and parchment from the pie shell and fill with the chicken mixture.Seal and brush pie top:
Brush the edges of the pastry with egg wash, then top the pie with the remaining piece of pastry. Pinch the edges to seal, then brush the top with more egg wash and pierce a couple of small holes in the top with a sharp knife.Bake pie until golden:
Place back in the oven (still at 400°F (205°C)/200°C fan) and cook for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.Serve with green vegetables:
Serve immediately with some green vegetables.