My Little Chef - Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Pie

William wanted to try something more adventurous to cook; this time he chose to create a Pie.

Ingredients

For the Pastry

350g Self Raising flour

200g Butter

1 Egg; beaten

1 tbsp cold water

(1 Egg, beaten, to glaze)

For the filling

3 Chicken breasts, skinned

75g Butter

2 Leeks

50g Plain flour

200ml milk

Mushrooms

Cheese, Grated

1 Tsp of Mustard

Freshly ground black pepper

To start preheat the oven to 200C 

For the Pastry William measured out the flour and then using a sieve put it in a bowl. Once he had measured the butter he placed it into the bowl with the flour.

William started buy combining the flour and butter together using both a spoon and his hands. He then beat the Egg and placed it, with the water, into his dough. He then carried on stirring it until it formed a ball.

He then rolled the dough out a few times, folding it occasionally. The ball was then cut in 2, wrapped, and placed in the fridge.

For the Filling

William started by cutting and dicing the Mushrooms, Leeks and Chicken.

William melted half of the butter in a large heavy frying pan over a low heat. He then stirred in the leeks and mushrooms and fried gently for two minutes, stirring occasionally until just softened. 

He then added the chicken and cooked through. 

For the Sauce

William started off by grating the cheese. He wanted the sauce to be extra cheesey so he decided how much he wanted; he wanted it very cheesey, as you can see!

He then measured out the milk and then poured it into a saucepan on a medium heat. He carefully added the cheese and stirred until it had melted. 

He then added the Mustard and a pinch of Pepper. William put the mixture on a low heat and added the flour gradually to thicken the sauce, stirring well between each adding.

With the filling made, William then got the pastry out and using one half, rolled out thinly and using the rolling pin then gently lined a tin. He then press the pastry firmly up the sides, making sure there are no air bubbles.

(We used a tin with a removable base, which we will use later)

 He then filled the tin with the filling and poured the sauce on until it sat just over the food. Using the other half of pastry, William rolled out a thin layer for the top for the lid. 

(He did need me to cut round the tin to keep the shape)

Using a fork he made several holes into the top and then pressed it around the edges together firmly to seal. Using the remaining Egg, once beaten, he glazed the pie lid.

We then placed the pie in over for 30 minutes.

I then carefully brought the pie out of the oven and separated the side of the tin with the bottom. Be careful here as if the base wasn't sealed properly you could experience some leaking. Luckily in our case we didn't have any cracks!

I then placed the pie back in the over for another 15 minutes to fully cook and to allow the middle to be piping hot.

 Finally, Cut and serve and enjoy!

(We did notice that the bottom was a little soggy. We are unaware if this was due to it being too full, the way we cooked it or the liquid. We will try blind baking this slightly next time and see what difference that would make)