Chicken pesto pies

Recipes / Meat

This clever recipe uses vol-au-vent cases as the pie base. Its quite ingenious as it means no soggy bottomed pies!

Recipe «Chicken pesto pies» presented in category Recipes / Meat, to prepare this dish you will need no more 35 minutes. To make this dish at home by prescription from the author Gomer would need: 40g unsalted butter, 1 leek , thinly sliced, 6 button mushrooms, sliced, 2 tbsp plain flour, 3/4 cup Massel chicken style liquid stock , 3/4 cup thickened cream, 2 tbsp good-quality basil pesto, plus extra to serve if desired, 3 cups chopped cooked chicken , 6 vol-au-vent cases, 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed, 1 egg, lightly beaten, 1 tsp nigella seeds or sesame seeds, 250g vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, 1 tbsp olive oil.

Ingredients:

  • 40g unsalted butter 
  • 1 leek , thinly sliced 
  • 6 button mushrooms, sliced 
  • 2 tbsp plain flour 
  • 3/4 cup Massel chicken style liquid stock 
  • 3/4 cup thickened cream 
  • 2 tbsp good-quality basil pesto, plus extra to serve if desired 
  • 3 cups chopped cooked chicken 
  • 6 vol-au-vent cases 
  • 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed 
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten 
  • 1 tsp nigella seeds or sesame seeds 
  • 250g vine-ripened cherry tomatoes 
  • 1 tbsp olive oil 

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Melt butter in a pan over medium-low heat. Add leek and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add mushroom and cook for a further minute, then add flour and stir for 1 minute. Gradually stir in chicken stock, then bring mixture to simmer. Add cream and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until thickened. Cool, season, then stir in pesto. Stir the chicken into the sauce.
  2. Using a vol-au-vent as a template, cut 6 lids from puff pastry sheets. Place vol-au-ents on a baking tray and fill with chicken mixture. Brush edge of pastry lids with a little water and place on top, pressing edges to seal. Brush tops of pies with beaten egg and sprinkle with nigella seeds, if using. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.
  3. Meanwhile, place tomatoes on a tray, drizzle with olive oil and season. Bake in the oven with pies for 6-8 minutes until tomatoes are just starting to burst. Serve pies with tomatoes and extra pesto, if desired.