Small Chicken Pie

Ingredients

• 250 g puff pastry
• 4 chicken breast fillets (about 120 g each)
• 300 ml Vegetable broth
• 1 stalk leeks
• 2 carrots
• 1 Zucchini
• 100 g peas (frozen)
• 1 Garlic clove
• 1 tbsp Sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 200 ml heavy cream
• Sea salt
• black pepper (freshly ground)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 egg yolks

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).

2. 2.

   Rinse the chicken breast fillets, pat dry and simmer in the hot broth over low heat for about 15 minutes covered. Remove, let cool. Trim the leeks, wash, quarter lengthwise and cut into strips. Peel the carrots and slice into rounds. Wash and dice the zucchini. Thaw the peas. Peel and mince the garlic.

3. 3.

   Heat the oil and butter in a pan. Sauté the leeks and garlic for 3-4 minutes over low heat. Add the carrots, zucchini and peas, sprinkle flour over them and stir briefly to brown. Gradually add the cream (leaving 2 tbsp) and about 100 ml of the chicken cooking broth, bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper, then remove from heat. Slice the cooked chicken into strips, mix in the thyme and add to the creamy vegetable sauce. Remove from heat and whisk in one egg yolk.

4. 4.

   Fill oven‑proof ramekins (about 400 ml each) with the chicken‑vegetable mixture. Cut four circles from the puff pastry slightly larger than the ramekins. Place them as lids over the filled ramekins, pressing the edges firmly down. Whisk the remaining egg yolk with the leftover cream, brush the pastry with this mixture, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake the pies on the middle rack for about 30 minutes until golden brown.