isithalal.food · Recipes

Chicken, leek and mushroom pie, Halal

John Torode's chicken, leek and mushroom pie with Halal chicken poached in milk, a creamy leek and mushroom sauce and a puff pastry lid, with the stock cube and pastry fat checked.

British · Main · Easy · 1 large pie, 8 portions · 95 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

The pie has no pork or alcohol in the recipe, but the chicken needs Halal slaughter, the chicken stock cube is a meat product, and bought puff pastry can be made with lard.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Chicken: Chicken is a Halal bird, but slaughter decides whether the meat is Halal. Buy from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Chicken.
• Chicken stock cube: UK chicken stock cubes such as OXO and Knorr contain chicken that is not certified Halal. Use a Halal-certified cube or a vegan vegetable cube. See Stock cubes.
• Puff pastry: Pastry fats vary, and lard, which is pork fat, turns up in some pastry. Read the fat on the pack and choose one made with butter or vegetable fat. See Lard.

Ingredients

Poached chicken

• 4 Halal large chicken breasts
• 4 Halal skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ small pack thyme sprigs
• ½ small pack flat-leaf parsley, leaves and stalks separated
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 Halal-certified chicken stock cube or vegan vegetable stock cube, crumbled
• 750 ml milk, plus extra to glaze

Sauce and lid

• 100 g butter
• 3 leeks, chopped
• 300 g button mushrooms, halved
• 100 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 200 ml crème fraîche
• 500 g puff pastry made without lard (read the fat on the pack)

Method

1. Poach the chicken. Put the Halal chicken in a large pan with the bay, half the thyme sprigs, the parsley stalks, onions, garlic, stock cube and seasoning. Pour over the milk, topping up with water if needed so the chicken is covered. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Lift out and leave to cool.
2. Keep the liquid. Strain the poaching liquid through a sieve into a large jug; you need 650 ml for the sauce.
3. Make the sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low-medium heat. Add the leeks and mushrooms and cook for 5 to 10 minutes until soft, then season. Stir in the flour to coat the vegetables, then slowly add the poaching liquid, stirring, until you have a thick sauce.
4. Fill the dish. Pull the chicken into thumb-sized chunks with two forks. Chop the parsley leaves and stir them into the sauce with the thyme leaves, crème fraîche and chicken. Check the seasoning and spoon into your pie dish or dishes to cool slightly.
5. Top and bake. Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan, gas 7). Roll the pastry on a floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin. Stick thin strips from the edges around the wet lip of the dish, wet them, then lay the pastry on top, trim and crimp. Brush with milk, cut a steam hole and bake on a baking sheet for 20 to 25 minutes until risen and golden.

Allergens

gluten (flour, puff pastry), milk (milk, butter, crème fraîche)

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Chicken, leek & mushroom pie' by John Torode (serves 8: 4 large chicken breasts and 4 skinless boneless thighs poached 15 minutes with bay, half a small pack of thyme, parsley stalks, 2 chopped onions, 1 garlic clove, a crumbled chicken stock cube, seasoning and 750 ml milk, topped up with water to cover; 650 ml of the strained liquid kept for the sauce; 3 leeks and 300 g halved button mushrooms softened 5 to 10 minutes in 100 g butter, 100 g flour stirred in and the liquid added slowly; the chicken pulled into chunks and stirred in with the parsley leaves, thyme leaves and 200 ml crème fraîche; topped with 500 g puff pastry rolled to the thickness of a £1 coin, glazed with milk and baked 20 to 25 minutes at 220°C (200°C fan, gas 7); ketchup optional). We specified Halal chicken, a Halal-certified or vegan vegetable stock cube, and puff pastry made without lard. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph of a chicken and leek pie by Mr Michael Phams (CC BY-SA 2.0), not the finished dish from this recipe.