Bacon and cheese in this winter classic makes this pie extra hearty and rich.

Extract from Treats from Little & Friday by Kim Evans

Makes 1 large pie

INGREDIENTS

Flaky Pastry (see below)
Egg Wash (see below)
75g unsalted butter
4 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
1kg chicken thigh fillets, cut into 2cm pieces
4 leeks, chopped
½ tsp thyme
¹/³ cup flour
3½ cups chicken stock
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
½ cup Italian parsley, chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup grated Gruyère

METHOD

1. Grease one large or six 9cm round pie dishes.
2. On a floured surface, roll pastry to 4mm thick and cut in half, reserving one half for lattice top. Use other half to line pie dish. Allow to rest in refrigerator for 20 minutes.
3. Melt butter over a medium-high heat. Sauté bacon until just browned. Set aside.
4. Add chicken to pan and brown for approximately 4 minutes. Set aside.
5. Lower heat, add leeks and thyme to pan and soften. Set aside.
6. Add flour to remaining butter in pan to form a roux. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly add chicken stock, one cup at a time, to create a thick sauce.
7. Add chicken, bacon and leeks to sauce. Cook for 20 minutes over a medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sauce from catching. The mixture should be thick enough for the
chicken and leeks not to sink to the bottom. Add mustard and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.
8. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Fill pastry-lined pie dish with chicken filling to the rim. Top with grated cheese.
9. Cut remaining pastry into thin strips for lattice lid.
10. Paint pastry-lined rim of pie with Egg Wash. Lay pastry strips across pie filling and firmly press with your fingers to seal edges. Trim overhanging pastry with a sharp knife. Glaze pastry with Egg Wash and bake in oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Egg Wash

2 eggs
2 tbsp cream

Place eggs and cream in a bowl and whisk until smooth. You can make as much Egg Wash as you need by using the same ratio of eggs to cream.

Flaky Pastry

INGREDIENTS

3 cups flour
pinch of salt
450g unsalted butter, frozen
180ml iced water

METHOD

1. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Grate 180g butter into bowl and, using your fingers, work into flour.
2. Dice remaining butter into 1cm cubes and add to bowl. Lightly mix with your hands until butter cubes are coated with flour mixture.
3. Add iced water and mix with your hands until dough starts to come together. (The mixture will be studded with large lumps of butter and quite dry at this point.)
4. Tip mixture onto a floured bench and gently work together with your hands to form a rough ball.
5. Roll out to a 30cm × 20cm rectangle. With a long side of the rectangle facing you, fold both short sides to meet at the centre. Then fold in half again.
6. Wrap in cling film and chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or ideally overnight.
7. Roll into a 30cm × 20cm rectangle and fold as before. Do this twice, then return to refrigerator for 30 minutes to rest.
8. Cut pastry in half. Roll each half out to 5mm thick to form two pastry sheets. This pastry does not keep and is best used within 24 hours.

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Extracted from Treats from Little & Friday by Kim Evans, published by Penguin NZ, RRP $40.00. Copyright © Kim Evans 2012. Photography © Rene Vaile 2012