Turkey, Bacon & Leek Pie

Did you know it’s British Pie Week between 4 – 10 March so in its honour I’ve made a Turkey, Bacon & Leek Pie. When I worked in caterers/deli briefly many moons ago, we made pies most days but they were always in ceramic with just a pie crust so this was my first time making a pie with a top and bottom.

As I wanted to make something thrifty for Credit Crunch Munch I decided I would make my own pastry and have recently discovered that my stick blender can do this for me with the large jug and blade attachment so no need for a cumbersome food processor! You don’t have to use lard but it makes for a shorter pastry and it’s also cheaper than using all butter.

We had such a huge turkey given to us at Christmas that I ended up freezing three bags of turkey meat (thanks for the hint Fuss Free Helen) and had one last bag left. I also had some bacon pieces left over from pate making so this formed the basis of my pie.

I decided to marry them off with some leeks but you could add whatever you have that needs using up. The result was a very meaty and filling pie which the family wolfed down (we don’t count my daughter)!  Feel free to play around with the proportions adding more vegetables and less meat according to what you have.

I made far too much pie filling so had some left over hence the pie wasn’t that saucy, therefore I’ve adjusted the recipe so that the sauce remains the same but there is less meat so the above quantities are the exact fit for a 21cm/8” pie dish.

I have to say I was very impressed with the Mermaid pie dish as my pastry cooked beautifully due to the even heat distribution and I even managed to turn my Turkey, Bacon & Leek Pie out in one piece. You can use metal utensils on the hard anodised aluminium and its scratch resistant. With a life time guarantee you know you can’t go wrong!

So as this Turkey, Bacon & Leek Pie is so thrifty I’m entering it into Credit Crunch Munch which is run by myself and Helen at Fuss Free Flavours who is hosting this month. I am also entering it into Herbs on Saturday which is run by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and being hosted by London Busy Body. Then I just have to enter Javelin Warriors Cookin w/luv “Made with Luv Mondays” challenge as this dish is totally made from scratch!

4.58 from 7 votes

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Turkey, Bacon & Leek Pie

A hearty and filling Turkey, Bacon and Leek Pie with a tarragon sauce.

Course Main

Cuisine British

Keyword bacon, leek, turkey

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 55 minutes

Servings 4

Author Camilla Hawkins

Ingredients

• For the pastry:
• 250 g/8oz Plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 45 g/2oz Lard
• 85 g/3oz Butter
• 3 – 4 tbsp Very cold water
• 1 egg
• For filling:
• 2 Leeks sliced
• 1 tbsp Light olive oil
• 185 g Bacon pieces
• 260 g Left-over chopped cooked turkey or chicken
• For the roux:
• 400 ml/13.5 fl oz milk
• 25 g/1oz Plain flour
• 25 g/1oz Butter
• ½ tsp English Mustard powder
• ½ tsp Dried Tarragon
• Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. Make the pastry in a food processor by adding the flour, salt, lard and butter and pulsing until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Then add 3 – 4tbsp of water and pulse until the mixture comes together to form a dough.
3. Knead the pastry on a floured board briefly before dividing into 2 flattened rounds for ease of rolling out later.
4. Cover with cling film and put in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
6. Meanwhile heat the oil in a large non-stick pan and fry the leeks gently for 5 minutes, then add the bacon pieces increasing the heat and cook for another 5 minutes. Finally add the chopped turkey and heat through for a further 5 minutes, put a lid on the pan to keep warm whilst you make pie base.
7. Once the pastry is chilled roll out one half to fit 21cm/8” deep pie dish (greased) and pat down inside and prick base all over with a fork.
8. Cut away excess pastry with the back of a knife and bake blind in the oven with a loose layer of foil over the top for 12 minutes
9. Then remove foil and return to the oven for a further 2 minutes to finish off.
10. Now make the roux sauce by melting the butter in a medium sized saucepan and add the flour stirring well with a whisk for a minute to form a paste.
11. Now off the heat gradually whisk in the milk bit by bit until it’s all added.
12. Return to the heat stirring constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.
13. Then add the mustard powder, pepper and tarragon (no salt is needed due to the bacon).
14. Pour the sauce over the leek, turkey and bacon and stir well then place in pie base.
15. Roll out the second half of the pastry to form a lid for the pie.
16. Cut a strip of pastry (or a few) and line the rim of the pie dish to form a platform for the pie top.
17. Roll the pastry onto your rolling pin and place on top of the pie.
18. With the back of a knife cut away the excess pastry and crimp the edge of the pie, making a hole in the centre with a knife (to let out steam).
19. With the remnants of pastry make decorations, I like leaves but you can let your imagination go wild here!
20. Whisk up the egg and use a pastry brush to wash over the pie.
21. Bake for about 25 minutes on a baking tray until golden brown and cooked through.