leftovers

In an effort to justify my upcoming purchase of a new freezer (it really will make life much easier), I've been emptying the contents of the little freezer we already have.  This week it was the leftover chunk of Christmas ham, which I defrosted overnight in the fridge before shredding and adding to leeks, mushrooms, chicken stock (also from the freezer) and a couple of dollops of sour cream and encasing in puff pastry. 

The result was a flaky golden ham, leek and potato pie, with a flavoursome, savoury, Christmassy filling that totally tasted like I should have made it on Boxing Day.  Served with steamed broccoli and peas.  Enjoyed by everyone.

This is the recipe, adapted from this one.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter

2 leeks, finely sliced

2 medium potatoes, cut into small cubes

2 large handfuls of mushrooms, sliced

2 bay leaves

a few sprigs of thyme

1 tbsp plain flour

300ml chicken stock

2 tbsp sour cream

2 tsp wholegrain mustard

200g cooked ham, shredded

puff pastry - enough to line and cover your pie tin

a beaten egg with a little milk, to glaze

Method:

Cook the leeks over a low heat in the butter for about 5 minutes, until they are soft.  

Add the potatoes and cook for a further 10 minutes or so.  I added a few splashes of water here and there and covered the dish to steam the potatoes and really soften the leeks so they are sweet.

Add the mushrooms, thyme and bay and continue frying until the vegetables are soft and the potatoes cooked.  

Stir in the flour, cook for a moment before adding the stock and allowing the sauce to thicken a little. 

Stir in the cream, mustard, ham and season.

Allow to cool before putting mixture into a puff pastry lined pie tin (mine's about 7"diameter) and topping with more puff pastry.

Brush with beaten egg mixture and bake at 180c for about 30 minutes.

Serve with plenty of fresh, steamed, greens.