With our tarragon growing like mad in the garden and nerw season leeks at the farm shop we felt like cooking a proper chicken pie. This gorgeous recipe delivers two golden, puff-pastry-topped pies — one for now, and one to freeze for a no-fuss dinner down the line. It’s everything you want from a comforting pie: tender poached chicken, sweet leeks, smoky bacon, and a luxuriously creamy tarragon-spiked sauce.
Wine Suggestion: as usual with chicken pies we opened a chardonnay, in this case a little gem from Patrick Javillier in Meursault, Burgundy; their Bourgonge Côte d’Or Cuvée de Forgets. One of two different Bourgogne Blancs they make, this one richer and fuller, but remaining elegant and expressive and quite Meursault like with a creaminess and toastiness.
Chicken, leek & tarragon pie – serves 8 (makes 2 pies, each serves 4)
TO POACH THE CHICKEN:
- 1 free-range chicken, cut in half lengthways (your butcher will do this for you but it is quite easy to do with strong scissors)
- olive oil
- 1 brown onion, roughly chopped
- 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
- 1 carrot, roughly chopped
- 3 bay leaves
FOR THE PIE:
- 3 celery sticks, halved and sliced
- 3 large leeks, chopped into 2cm rounds
- 6 rashers of top-quality smoked streaky bacon, remove any rind and cut into chunks
- 30g butter
- 600ml poaching broth from the chicken
- 50g plain flour
- 150ml white wine
- 200ml double cream
- 1 heaped tbsp Dijon mustard
- 20g fresh tarragon, finely chopped
- 1 egg
- 2 sheets of all-butter puff pastry
- fennel seeds (optional)
Season the chicken halves generously and leave aside for an hour to come to room temperature.
Get a heavy-based pot that will fit both pieces of chicken (otherwise you can do this in two batches). Drizzle in some olive oil and place over a fairly high heat. When the oil is hot, fry the chicien pieces on both sides until golden brown and caramelised all over.
When the chicken is browned, add the chopped veg and the bay leaf. Top up with water so that the chicken is just covered. Season generously with salt and bring up to a very gentle simmer with the lid on for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is just cooked through – as always a thermometer is your best friend here.
Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to cool (keep the cooking liquid in the pot). When the chicken is cool enough to handle, strip the chicken from the carcass and put into a bowl. Put the bones, skin and gristle back into the pot with the poaching liquid. Put this back on the heat and simmer to extract all the flavour from the bones while you continue with the recipe.
Place the bacon in a large pan with th butter and fry to render out the fat. Add the celery, leeks and a ladleful of the chicken stock, then cover with a lid and cook until tender.
Strain the chicken stock now and measure out 600ml. Taste and seaon with salt if needed.
Add the flour to the leeks and mix well, cooking for a few minutes, then pour in the wine and mix again, it will look pretty awful at this stage but don’t worry. Add the chicken stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring until it is completely absorbed. When you have added all 600ml, turn the heat off and pour in the cream. Add the cooked chicken meat, mustard and finely chopped tarragon. Mix well and taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Fill a pie dish with half the mixture (we then freeze the rest in another dish, ready to cover with pastry when needed).
Heat the oven to 200C.
Whisk an egg and brush the edges of the pie dish. Place a pastry sheet on top and crimp the edges but leave a generous overhang. You can decorate with any extra bits. Brush the top with more egg wash, then sprinkle over the fennel seeds (if using) and season with salt and pepper. Pierce a hole in the middle so the steam can escape, then bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and puffed.
(Original recipe from The Farm Table by Julius Roberts, Ebury Press, 2023.)
