Muriel's Chicken Pot Pie

Serves: to serve 4

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Cook Time: 55 Minutes

Ready In: 1 hr 25 mins

1¼ lb - boneless chicken breasts

- salt & pepper

3 tablespoons - olive oil

2 - leeks

2 stalks - celery

2 medium - potatoes

4 oz - French beans

2 cloves - garlic

12 fl oz - milk

1 oz - plain flour (all purpose flour)

1 pint - chicken stock

1 cup - frozen peas

2 tablespoons - chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon - chopped fresh thyme

1 knob - butter

9 oz - ready-made filo pastry

2 tablespoons - grated Parmesan cheese

Remove any skin from the chicken breasts and cut them into cubes about ¾" (2cm) across. Season the chicken with salt and a few twists of freshly-ground black pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large large non-stick skillet or frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes, turning once or twice, then set the chicken aside.
Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes about ¾" (2cm) across. Trim the French beans and cut into pieces about ¾" (2cm) long. Peel and crush (mince) the garlic. Wash the leeks, remove the roots and cut the bottom 4" (10cm) from each (put the green leaves aside for a soup later). Finely chop the remaining white leeks and the celery.
Place a further tablespoon of the oil in the pan and add the leeks and the celery. Cook for about 4-5 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften, then add the potatoes, French beans, crushed garlic and season generously with salt and freshly-crushed pepper. Stir and cook for 3-4 more minutes.
Add the milk to the pan and stir. In a mixing bowl, stir the chicken stock into the flour, bit by bit, until dissolved, then stir it into the ingredients in the pan. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes then stir in the chicken pieces, the peas, parsley and thyme.
Use a little butter to lightly grease the insides of four individual-sized baking dishes or lion's head soup dishes. Spoon the mixture from the pan into the prepared baking dishes.
Unroll the filo pastry (or roll it out on a floured work surface if it's a block) and cut it into four circles just a bit bigger than the baking dishes. Place a circle of pastry on top of each baking dish and brush with the remaining olive oil. Tuck the edges of the pastry down into the dish rim and sprinkle each pie with Parmesan cheese. Place the pot pies on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated moderately hot oven (Mk 4 - 350ºF - 180ºC) for about 30 minutes until the filling is bubbling round the edges.