As the season is starting to change, so are our taste buds but you just cannot beat a good chicken pie regardless of the time of year. Our recipe for the month of May is this seriously tasty chicken pie using our chicken stock and lots of other wholesome ingredients.

Ingredients
Olive oil, for cooking
8 skinless chicken thighs
50g butter
1 leek, washed & sliced
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp plain flour
100ml dry white wine
350ml Carol’s Stock Market Chicken Stock
100g crème fraîche
150g frozen peas
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
Salt & pepper
1 sheet puff pastry
1 egg

Serves
4-6

Method
Add a drizzle of oil to a large casserole dish over medium heat.
Add the chicken with a generous sprinkle of sea salt flakes and a grinding of black pepper. Cover pot with lid and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Use two forks to roughly shred the meat in large pieces and remove the bones. Add the butter then once melted, add the sliced leek and herbs. Cook until leeks are tender.

Sprinkle over the flour and cook, while stirring, for 2-3 minutes, until it has formed a paste.

Add the wine and cook for about a minute, scraping the bottom of the pan to bring up any brown bits, then stir in the chicken stock, crème fraîche, frozen peas and mustard. Bring to a simmer then leave to cook with the lid off for about 10- 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.
Remove from heat and tip into a deep pie dish. Leave to cool completely then cover with tinfoil and refrigerate until ready to finish cooking.

Pre-heat oven to 220°C / 200°C fan assisted.

Remove tinfoil cover from the pie dish. Beat the egg with a drop of water then brush the rim of the pie dish with the egg wash. Place the sheet of puff pastry on top of the pie then firmly press the pastry around the rim of the pie dish to stick down. Trim away the excess pastry.

Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash. If you like, you can cut out shapes from the trimmed pastry and stick it on the pastry in any pattern you like, make sure to also brush the shapes with egg wash. Finally, use a small sharp knife to poke 3-4 slits in the centre of the lid to allow steam to escape.

Bake in the pre-heated oven until the pastry is golden and flaky, 20-30 minutes.

Leave to cool for about 5 minutes before serving.