Creamy Garlic Ham and Leek Pies

Ham and Leek Pies pinnable image

This week I made a batch of one of my favourite slow cooker dishes- Brown Sugar Gammon.  We had it for dinner, then the next day in sandwiches, but there was still some leftover! It's absolutely delicious, so I couldn't let it go to waste. I decided to make some ham and leek pies to use it up, as I had plenty of leeks ready to make soup.

These ham and leek pies are individual portion sizes with a creamy, garlic, ham and leek filling. The creamy sauce is really what separates them from just any old ham pie. It's essentially a classic white sauce but with garlic and double cream added. I used my leftover brown sugar gammon for the ham filling, but you can buy a ready-cooked bacon joint or use leftovers of any type of ham you have cooked recently.

I used ready-made shortcrust pastry but you can, of course make your own. I recommend this recipe: Shortcrust Pastry Recipe from BBC Good Food.

The traditional enamel pie dishes with the blue edges are the ones I use for cooking my pies in. They are incredibly durable and pastry just slides off them. You can buy them in most cook shops and Lakeland sell them too: Lakeland Enamel Pie Dishes I use the 16cm ones for individual pies.

There was a tiny bit of pastry and filling left at the end so I made a handful of  mini pies that I thought might make a nice lunch. I was a bit too over enthusiastic with the filling so they popped their tops and made a bid for freedom! Let's just gloss over that and say that, as long as you don't over-fill them, and you wet the edges enough, you can also use this recipe  to make a big batch of mini ham and leek pies. Perfect for a buffet lunch!

Ham and Leek Pies pinnable image




Make Creamy Garlic Ham and Leek Pies

If you need a printable version of the recipe click here: Creamy Garlic Ham and Leek Pie Printable Recipe

Ingredients
(makes 3 individual pies)

200g cooked ham
1 leek
500g shortcrust pastry
60g butter
50g plain flour
200ml milk
100ml double cream
1 clove garlic, crushed

Method

1. Slice your leek into 1cm rounds.
2. Soften in a pan with 10g of the butter on a medium heat. Stir regularly to avoid too much browning.
3. Melt the remaining 50g of the butter in a medium saucepan on medium heat.
4. Add the flour and the crushed garlic and stir until combined and glossy.
5. Allow to cook through in the pan for a couple of  minutes.
6. Slowly add the milk, stirring after every addition and then allowing to thicken a little.
7. When all the milk is added, stir gently until you have a smooth, thick white sauce. If you have problems with lumps, use a stick blender to smooth them out.
8. Slowly add the cream, stirring as you add until it's well combined.
9. Remove the sauce from the heat.
10. Chop or shred the gammon/ham into small chunks.
11. Mix the gammon and the leeks into the sauce  and leave to cool.
12. Roll out your pastry to around 0.5 cm thick. Shape onto your pie dish and trim around the edges.
13. Spoon the filling into the pastry case until it's just below the top.
14. Use a little milk to brush the edges of the pastry.
15. Lay pastry over the top. Trim the edges with a sharp knife and press the edges together with the prong of a fork.
16. Use the knife to pierce the top of the pastry.
17. Use some more milk to brush across the tops of the pies.
Repeat with two more pie dishes.
18. Pop the pies in the oven at 200 for around 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with mash and peas!



leeks cooking in a pan

leek and ham filling mixed with creamy sauce

Ham and Leek Pie filling in the pastry case


Ham and Leek Pie  ready to go in the oven

Ham and Leek Pies straight out of the oven

Ham and Leek Mini pies




Comments

  1. This is a lovely recipe, I'm sure it's very tasty! Very few ingredients,which always makes a recipe more appealing! Great comfort food:)

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    Replies
    1. You can't beat pie for comfort, especially with mash!

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