There’s something deeply reassuring about a pie like this. Food that begins with bacon sizzling in a pan and finishes with a knife cracking through golden pastry is always a winner. It’s not fancy. It doesn’t need to be. It’s food built from the small, good rituals: a generous twist of fresh pepper, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a bit of patience while the sauce thickens to just the right level. 

By the time it reaches the table, the kitchen smells of everything that's good in the world - roasted chicken, buttery leeks, a whisper of thyme. It’s a pie that feels like home but tastes like heaven.

Ingredients: 

• 4 chicken thighs
  
• 4 rashers of bacon, diced
  
• 25g butter
  
• 2 leeks, diced
  
• 1/2 white onion, diced
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• A few sprigs of thyme, picked
  
• 20g plain flour
  
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  
• 400ml chicken stock
  
• 320g roll of shortcrust pastry
  
• 1 beaten egg

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to 200c.
   
2. Place the chicken thighs in a roasting tray, season with salt and pepper, and a touch of olive oil, then place them in the oven for 40 minutes.
   
3. Meanwhile, add the bacon to a saucepan with a little olive oil and cook over medium heat, stirring regularly until crispy.
   
4. Remove the bacon from the pan and set it aside. Melt the butter in the pan, then add the onions and leeks and cook for 5 minutes until soft before adding the garlic and thyme and cooking for a further couple of minutes.
   
5. Add the mustard and the flour and cook out before gradually adding the hot chicken stock to create a thick sauce.
   
6. Pick the chicken into small chunks and add them to the pan with the bacon and stir everything together. Season with salt and lots of black pepper, then transfer to a bowl to cool.
   
7. Line an 18cm pie dish with the short-crust pastry and trim the edges. Mould the trim into a ball and roll out to create a lid - keep in the fridge until you are ready to use.
   
8. Once the pie filling has cooled, fill the pie, then brush the edge with the beaten egg before placing on the lid and crimping to seal. Egg wash the pastry, then cut a slit in the top of the pie to release the steam. Place the pie on a baking tray and then into the oven for 45 minutes.
   
9. Allow the pie to cool slightly before cutting and serving.