Creamy Chicken Pot Pie with Leek, Carrot & Peas

A delicious way to use up leftover roast chicken is to make a hot and comforting Chicken Pot Pie. The filling can be prepared in advance with any vegetables you have on hand, but I like to use carrots, celery, fresh thyme, a handful of green peas and sliced leeks sautéed in butter until soft and tender. A rich thick creamy béchamel sauce brings the whole dish together, so it's important to taste for seasoning as you go along, adjusting the flavour to suit your palate. The final flourish is laying a rolled out sheet homemade buttery pastry to cover the dish, using any extra pastry to decorate the top, and brushing the top with whisked egg and milk. Baked for about an hour at 400°F and you have a bubbling homemade chicken pot pie capped with a handsome crown of golden pastry.

Sliced leeks, carrots, celery and fingerling potatoes sautéed in butter for 10-12 minutes

Vegetables are combined with shredded cooked chicken, peas, béchamel, Madeira and thyme

A 9-inch pie dish is lined with pastry dough and filled with the chicken mixture

The second layer of dough is laid on top, crimped and trimmed of excess dough used to decorate the top, then the whole top is brushed with egg and milk

Baked at 400°F for 60-70 minutes until bubbling and golden brown

Chicken Pot Pie

Serves 4

3 tbsp butter
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/4″ pieces
2 stalks celery, chopped into 1/4″ pieces
1 leek, trimmed, cut length-wise and finely sliced
3 new potatoes, cut into 1/4" pieces
1 cup frozen peas
6-8 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 cups cooked chicken meat
1/2 cup Madeira 

Béchamel Sauce:

2 1/2 cups whole milk

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Salt and pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of cayenne

Pastry: makes two 9-inch crusts

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1/2 cup ice water

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 large egg

2 tbsp whole milk

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large frying pan set over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the chopped carrots, celery, leek, potatoes, thyme, salt and pepper, and sauté until the vegetables are just tender, about 8-10 minutes. Add the chicken, peas, fresh thyme and Madeira wine, and continue cooking until the liquid cooks off, then turn the heat to low.

Prepare the béchamel by heating the milk in a saucepan on medium heat. In a separate pan, melt the butter, then add the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon and cooking the roux until it becomes lightly golden, about 5-6 minutes. Add a ladleful of the warm milk at a time, stirring constantly so it doesn't form lumps. Continue until all the milk has been incorporated. Season with salt and pepper, nutmeg and pinch of cayenne to taste. Continue cooking and stirring on low heat for another 10 minutes. The sauce will thicken and become very smooth. Remove from the heat and pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables, stirring to combine. Pour the mixture into a 2 quart casserole dish.

With the rack in the lowest position, preheat the oven to 400°F. To make the pie crust, dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt and vinegar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough in half. Roll out one half of the dough on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the centre to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn’t stick to the board. Drape it over the 9-inch pie dish to extend about 1/2 inch over the rim, then spoon in the chicken filling. Roll out the other half of the dough for the top crust, large enough to cover the pie, about 10 to 11-inches, and lay it over the pie, cutting away any excess dough, then crimp the edges. With a fork, whisk the egg with the milk, and brush over the pastry. With the leftover dough, it's rather festive to create leaves, berries and fanciful shapes to decorate the top. Just wet the backs before affixing to the crown of the pie, then brush the whole top with the remaining egg and milk mixture. 

Bake for 60-70 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.