The best things about being home for a bit? Mum's credit card at the supermarket, decent water pressure and you get to drive everywhere (in Mum's car with Mum's petrol). Winning.
Anyway, me being home means that Mum gets a week off cooking for everyone and I am automatically enslaved into the kitchen from day one.
While at home I tend to have unlimited access to ingredients, especially the non-student-budget-friendly variety, but for this post I tried to make something warm and comforting that I could easily make while back down South.
If you have not noticed already, leeks are coming into season. I'm pretty sure you can grab one for less than $2. You want a really girthy, long one. If they are a bit on the small side, two never hurt anyone.
The bacon is optional, if you don't have any it is not the end of the world. Mum just had some that "needed'' to be used.
Every time I make one I have her voice in my head telling me not to add too much milk at once, not to add flour after you add the milk and to use the back of the wooden spoon to smooth out the lumps.
If you are not sure how to make a good béchamel, google it: there will be more than a handful of videos to educate you through every step.
Serve this with a good helping of creamy mashed potatoes and your choice of vege. We had baked pumpkin and capsicum and broccoli.
Also please excuse the lack of puff in the pastry. We only had low-fat flaky puff pastry. It just isn't the same as the full-fat stuff.
Chicken, leek and bacon pie
Serves six
500g chicken breast/tenderloin, diced
1 large leek, sliced and diced
3 rashers shoulder bacon, diced
1 large onion, sliced into thin wedges
3 cloves of garlic, minced
45g butter
¼ cup plain flour
2½ cups trim milk
1 cup grated Edam cheese
2 Tbsp wholegrain mustard
salt and pepper to taste
three sheets flaky puff pastry
In a deep-dish frying pan, sauté the onion and garlic and slightly brown the chicken and bacon on a medium heat. Add the diced leek and pop on a lid to let the leek slightly sweat/steam for a few minutes. Once the leeks have softened, turn off the heat.
To make the béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the flour and stir to form a dough and keep stirring for a minute or two to cook it (do not let it brown). Add half a cup of milk and mix firmly to form a smooth paste. Make sure you get all the lumps out. You may need to use a whisk. Gradually add the rest of the milk and heat until a thick sauce has formed. Make sure it does not boil. Add the cheese and wholegrain mustard and salt and pepper to taste.
Stir the sauce into the chicken and leek mixture. Put to one side to cool while you prepare your baking dish.
Preheat the oven to 200degC on bake.
Take a large lasange dish and lightly spray with cooking spray. Line the base with pastry - our dish needed one and a-half sheets for the base. Pour the semi-cooled filling over the top. Top with the remaining pastry. Prick the pastry with a fork.
Bake for 40 minutes or until the pastry has turned golden brown.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes before serving with mash and vegetables.
Enjoy!
- This recipe would also work really well for individual ramekin pies.
