Gluten-Free Chicken and Leek Pie
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This Gluten-Free Chicken and Leek Pie is a family favourite with a creamy chicken, garlic and tarragon infused buttery sauce. Whole chicken is poached then shredded and added to the most delicious creamy leeks and baked in a gluten-free puff pastry crust.
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What is November without a good pie? Cold, that’s what. Is there really any better internal heating system that a plate full of hot bubbling creamy chicken and sweet leeks adorned with a crisp and flaky buttered hat? The best part of any pie is of course where the lid meets the sauce, so that the puff pastry becomes chewy and saturated with all the beautiful flavours.
Why You’ll Love This Gluten-Free Chicken and Leek Pie
I have been making this Chicken Pie for years, it’s a complete crowd and family pleaser, equally at home as part of a special mid-week treat or pride of place at a small supper gathering.
- It is chock full of chicken flavour because you poach a whole chicken with a host of vegetables to cook the chicken off first
- You use the deliciousy deep stock as the base of the pie filling, thickened with sweet rice flour.
- You finish it off with a generous amount of crème fraiche. Using crème fraiche instead of cream adds richness but is its own tempering agent, adding a tang which is complimented here by the addition of lemon zest and tarragon.
⭐️You won't need all the stock produced for the pie filling but that's all the better so you have it to hand for your next recipe.
How To Make Gluten-Free Chicken and Leek Pie
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Poach the chicken for 1 hour in a large stockpot with lots of veg and covered with water.
- Strain but reserve the poaching liquid. Shred the chicken and discard the bones.
- Cook the onion and celery in butter until translucent.
- Add the leeks, garlic, lemon zest, tarragon, thyme leaves and the bay leaf and cook until soft.
- Add the sweet rice flour to absorb the fat then splash in the vermouth.
- Pour in the stock, bring up to a gentle simmer. Whisk all the while to create a thick smooth sauce.
- Add the chicken, creme fraiche, spices and seasonings.
- Pour the chicken and leek filling into a 20cm pie dish.
- Roll out the gluten-free pastry into a round and place over the top of the pie dish. Brush with whisked egg.
- Bake for 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
Expert Tips
- There are a few steps involved in this pie which is why I have absolutely no qualms about using shop bought gluten-free puff pastry.
- Don’t feel that you have to do all the steps of the pie at once either. Poach the chicken the day before, or make the filling the day before. It’s a recipe that can happily be broken down into manageable chunks.
Serving Suggestions
Of course the obligatory accompaniment to pie is quite obviously mashed potato but don’t let that become your go-to every time.
I love a bit of white rice with this pie, especially if you serve it with a mound of buttered broccoli.
If you are going the mash route then make sure you don’t forget the greenery, shredded savoy cabbage with a glistening diamond of butter on the top.
For a lighter meal then forgo the carbs entirely, as long as you have the greens to eat with your pie then you’ll be a happy camper.
More Gluten-Free Family Dinners You’ll Love!
✨Have you tried this Gluten-Free Chicken and Leek Pie? If you liked it, please leave a 5-star ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ rating on the recipe card and consider leaving a comment as well! I would love to hear about how your recipe turned out and your feedback also helps other readers✨
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Gluten-Free Chicken and Leek Pie
Ingredients
For the Chicken and Stock
- 1 whole chicken
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
- A handful of fresh parsley stalks
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 large onion - halved
- 1 leek - halved
- 2 large carrots - halved
- 2 sticks celery - halved
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 6 black peppercorns
For the Pie
- 1 large onion - diced
- 1 stick celery - diced
- 2 leeks - halved lengthways then chopped finely into semi circles
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons sweet rice flour
- 60 ml vermouth
- 400 ml stock from the poached chicken
- The chicken from the poached chicken
- 150 ml crème fraiche
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 320 g ready rolled gluten-free puff pastry
- 1 egg - for the egg wash
Instructions
Poaching the chicken
- Remove the string and giblets from the chicken then place the chicken in a large stockpot with the onion, leek, carrots, celery, garlic cloves, bay leaves, thyme and parsley stalks.
- Fill the stockpot with cold water so that it covers the chicken, season well with salt and black pepper and bring to the boil.
- Turn the heat down to simmer for 1 hour.
- Remove the chicken from the stockpot and set aside until cool enough to handle. Meanwhile continue simmering the stock for a further 1 hour.
- Shred the chicken away from the bones. Discard the skin and all the bones and set the meat aside until you need it.
- Remove the stock from the heat, strain and discard the vegetables. Set the stock aside until you need it.
The Pie
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4.
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan until the butter has melted. Add the onion and celery to the pan and fry gently for about 10 minutes when the vegetables start to turn translucent.
- Add the leeks, garlic, lemon zest, tarragon, thyme leaves and the bay leaf to the pan. Give everything a good stir then continue to fry gently for 15 minutes or until the leeks are softened.
- Add the sweet rice flour and mix well into the leeks until all the flour has been absorbed by the mixture. Stir continually with a wooden spoon letting the flour cook through for a few minutes.
- Pour in the vermouth and continue stirring for a couple of minutes until the wine has been absorbed.
- Pour 400ml of the stock into the pan. Stir continually until the flour dissolves into the stock and the sauce is thick and bubbling. Turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the poached chicken, the crème fraiche, the cloves and nutmeg and season well with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer.
- Remove from the heat and pour into a 20cm round deep pie dish
- Take the ready-rolled puff pastry and cut a thick strip to place on top of the lip of your pie dish. Then place the rest of the pastry on top, cutting away the excess. Tuck onto the pie filling and pinch to the pastry on the lip of the dish.
- Whisk the egg and then brush over the top of the pie.
- Place the pie in the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry top is golden brown.
I don't see anywhere to add the cloves and nutmeg?
It goes in with the creme fraiche - thank you for flagging, I've amended the method to reflect this.
Hi, Love the look of this recipe - have you tried freezing it?
I have frozen the filling - before adding it into the pie - which works very well. Just store in an airtight container and it will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months. However, I haven't frozen the finished pie.