Chik'n & Leek Filo Pie

22 March 2025  (Saturday)

The next seven days are pretty full-on, for me at least.  There’s several major events for the Great Green Barn, one full day helping a friend present three workshops at an Academy some distance away, the usual work work, and the usual A Week at the Plot to finish this weekend, and start recording for next week’s upload… at times like this, I focus on the day after the last big thing, in this case I’m focusing on the totally free weekend I have NEXT weekend rather than the full-on week ahead.

After filming Sunday Chat, it was a quick lunch and then down to the plot… soon to be followed by lightning, thunder and a few torrential downpours.  Yes, I did get wet, though the last segment of AWATP needed to be filmed so I can edit tomorrow, before I’m full in to that full-on week!

I'd been fancying a pie of some sort or another for quite a few weeks now, knowing that we've got some puff pastry and also a roll of filo pastry in the freezer, both of which have been in there since the last ice age. A few weeks ago, when at Lidl I bought some of its non-meat chik’n pieces which were on offer, with a significant discount as the use by date was that day; I brought them home and popped them straight in the freezer. I didn't read the instructions to see if they could be frozen; I'm sure being protein at one sort or another and fiber they would be fine, and I’d find out for sure when I cooked them. 

I took both the pastry, deciding upon the filo, and the chik’n pieces out of the freezer late morning, after we'd done Sunday Chat. I was sure I'd have time in the afternoon to get some sort of pie done and dusted for supper.  Richard would be editing his vlog and uploading it and also editing Sunday Chat and uploading that so despite me going down to the plot to clear buddleia prunings for a couple of hours, I was sure there’d be time. 

Chik’n & Leek Pie with Braised Cabbage & Carrots

After removing a few gone over leaves from the leeks, slicing them down the middle and running them under the tap to remove any sand or grit, I sliced them relatively chunkily and popped them into a pan with some olive oil.  I didn't shake off the water from the leeks, as this would turn to steam and, alongside the tablespoon of olive oil I used would help cook them down.

Once the leeks were soft, I added a tablespoon of miso paste and stirred that through. I then added the chik’n, bringing it up to heat and making sure that it was cooked through well. A tablespoon and a half of plain flour went in next, stirred through, cooked out (for about a minute - this takes the floury taste away) and then about 300ml of oat milk with a level tablespoon of Dijon mustard was stirred through, making all a thick sauce. Obviously, if you’ve a different mustard you can use whatever is your favourite - a wholegrain would work well.

I then sliced up two peppers, in my case a red and a yellow one, and popped these into the mix, putting the pan lid on and letting them cook on a low heat for 5 minutes, until they were a little soft. I then turned the heat off and added about 250g of frozen peas. I stirred these through, which obviously brought down the temperature a little bit. I left the lid off so that any heat could escape as I wanted the mixture to cool down pretty well before I used it as a filling.

I then got a ten inch glass Pyrex pie dish and layered the unrolled filo pastry into it, ensuring that there was plenty overlapping the sides so that I could fold it back over the top later.  The filo was quite brittle as it was quite old, but I didn't worry about this. I didn't use any olive oil at this stage - usually you’d brush olive oil or melted butter between the filo sheets to help them stick together and give crunch.  I was just going to dress the top with olive oil right at the end, so I didn't bother with the extra faffing. Once there were about six sheets of filo around the whole pie plate, and overlapping the edges, I put the now cooled mixture into the pastry dish, smoothed it around to evenly cover the base, and then folded the overlapping individual filo sheets back over the mixture.

I dressed the top with a good drizzle of olive oil (a couple of teaspoons), and then let it rest for about 15 minutes.  Whilst the pie was resting I turned the oven on to 180° fan, and once heated up I popped the pie in and cooked it for about 30 minutes, checking after 20 minutes that it wasn't burning. 

I then washed out the pan that I had used to cook the mixture, added in some olive oil and a little salt, about four tablespoons of water and then four sliced carrots.  Bringing all up to a bubble I turned down the heat to the lowest and put the pan lid on, leaving the carrots to gently steam over a simmering heat for about 15 minutes.  I then added about half a roughly shredded pointed cabbage and let that steam on top of the carrots for a further 15 minutes. 

I'm not very good at plating up, though I'm pretty good at taste, and I have to say this pie is definitely a winner.  I might add a few herbs in the next one and tweak here and there,but I think this recipe, which is pretty rough and ready, is a winner.


Weather:  Mild, with the sun breaking through around 11am… giving over to lightning, thunder and torrential downpours in the afternoon..

Breakfast:  Crumpets with yeast extract, and two with peanut butter and banana slices
Lunch:  Homemade Hummus, crackers, carrots, radish and cucumber wedges
Supper:  Chik’n & Leek Filo Pie, Braised Carrots & Cabbage