Chicken & Leek Casserole

The English-Sunday-lunch casserole.

Why you should cook this

The English Sunday lunch in a casserole dish. Bone-in chicken thighs, three large leeks (white and pale green only, the dark green is for stock), a brown onion, three cloves of garlic, white wine, chicken stock, thickened cream, fresh tarragon. Topped with a sheet of puff pastry, egg-washed, slits cut for steam, baked at 180 fan until the pastry has risen up like a souffle that has decided to commit.

The leeks need a long, slow cook before anything else happens. Twenty minutes on low heat with butter and a pinch of salt, until they are silky and almost translucent. Rushing this step gives you crunchy leek in the gravy, which is wrong. Bone-in chicken thighs because boneless breast goes dry. Tarragon, which is the herb everyone forgets exists, is what makes this dish taste like it came out of a Sussex pub kitchen. Serve with buttered peas and mashed potato. Open a Yarra Valley chardonnay.

What to drink with it

A glass of crisp Australian chardonnay (Yabby Lake, Giant Steps) or a Saint-Germain Spritz (our recipe). Buttered peas on the side.

Notes from the kitchen

Bone-in, skin-on chicken thigh. Stays moist through the long bake. Boneless breast goes dry. Leeks need a long soft cook. Twenty minutes on low. They should be silky, not crunchy.

The recipe

Chicken & Leek Casserole

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 6 serves

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: British

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1.2 kg bone-in chicken thighs
• 3 large leeks, white and pale green only, sliced
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 200 mL dry white wine
• 300 mL chicken stock
• 200 mL thickened cream
• 2 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 sheet store-bought puff pastry
• 1 egg, beaten
• Salt and pepper

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced. Salt and pepper the chicken thighs.
2. Heat oil in a large casserole or oven-safe pan. Brown the chicken on both sides, 4 minutes per side. Set aside.
3. In the same pan, cook leeks and onion 15 minutes until soft and slightly golden. Add garlic, stir 30 seconds.
4. Sprinkle in flour. Stir 1 minute. Add wine, scraping the bottom. Reduce by half, 3 minutes.
5. Add stock, cream and tarragon. Return chicken thighs to the pan, nestled into the sauce.
6. Roll the pastry sheet to fit the top of the dish. Lay it over. Brush with beaten egg. Cut 4 small slits in the top to vent steam.
7. Bake 35-40 minutes until pastry is deep golden and the sauce is bubbling at the edges.
8. Rest 5 minutes before serving.

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