I have an ‘easy dinner’ method of making chicken pies for those nights when you have zero time to get some good-enough food on the table. Basically I layer spinach and feta on 1/4 of a chicken breast, season with garlic salt and salt ‘n pepper and wrap this in flaky pastry. Too easy.
I wanted to revisit this recipe and spend a bit of time creating a pie with ramped-up flavour and more of a lasting impression – in a good way hopefully! I also wanted to include seasonal vegetables and combine ingredients in ways I hadn’t tried before.
I’m proud of this recipe, it was a gorgeously savoury success! The two heroes of the dish are the Queen Vanilla Pure Extract and the buttery, authentically french, Paneton pastry. I’m a ridiculous creature of habit when it comes to grocery shopping and as a result I have always purchased the same brand of pre-rolled pastry sheets. Not anymore. Once you go french, you never go back……..or something like that lol.
Ok, recipe time people! As per usual, not all measurements are accurate as I’m a shambles chef but I can cook a mean pie ok!? xx
Chicken, Leek & Spinach Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- Approx. 800 grams chicken breast, diced
- 1 x Paneton Flaky Pastry Roll
- 3 tsp Queen Finest Vanilla Pure Extract, Single Origin Madagascar
- Salt and pepper
- Minced garlic
- Olive oil
- 40 gm Slivered almonds
- Fresh spinach
- Mushrooms
- One leek
- Feta
- 1 egg whisked for pastry wash
Method
Remove pastry from freezer to thaw. Preheat oven to 180°.
Heat approx 2 tblsp olive oil in a large pan, add minced garlic (I probably used around a tbsp) and chicken pieces. Season with salt and pepper and cook through. Remove from pan.
Add slivered almonds, when toasted add leek and cook until starting to turn translucent. Add mushrooms and one teaspoon of Queen Pure Vanilla Extract.
Add a heaping mound of spinach to the pan, you know how it wilts down so add more than you think! Add two more teaspoons of Vanilla Extract to taste – this is one ingredient I carefully measured so you can trust these amounts! Combine with chicken, seasoning again to taste.
Grease your pie dish and line with Paneton Flaky Pastry. Spoon chicken and spinach mixture to fill the pan. Crumble feta over the filling and close pie with another sheet of pastry.
Crimp the edges and make the pie look as fancy-pants as you like. Brush with egg wash and bake until your pastry is fluffy and golden.
Bon apetit!
PS these retro enamel pie dishes from the Wiltshire range are amazing to work with, even cooking and easy clean up. Available from The Warehouse.
*I was sent the pastry, vanilla, and pie dishes to use in creating my own recipes, all opinions expressed are my own.
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