Chicken, leek and bacon pies

Preparation: 45 minutes Cooking: 66-76 minutes Makes: 16 500g chicken thighs 1 leek 25g butter 150g bacon or pancetta, chopped 1 small onion, chopped 2 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves 2 tablespoons plain flour

cup whole milk 3 tablespoons cream 2 teaspoons seed mustard

cup grated tasty cheese Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 sheets (600g) ready-rolled savoury shortcrust pastry (I used Edmonds) 1 egg 3 teaspoons sesame seeds

Trim the excess fat from the chicken thighs and chop into 2-3cm pieces. Trim the leek, halve lengthways, and cut into 1cm half circles.

Heat the butter in a large heavybottomed saucepan and cook the bacon for five minutes. Add the onion, chopped leek and sage and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the chicken meat, stir well, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle over the flour, stir to combine, and cook for one minute, then add the milk, two tablespoons of cream, and the seed mustard. Cook, stirring occasionally, for a further 10-15 minutes until the sauce is thickened and smooth and the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the heat, stir through the cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until cold.

Cut four 11cm circles from one sheet of pastry and line two oven trays with baking paper. Hold a pastry circle in your hand and place about two tablespoons of chicken filling in the centre. Fold the pastry sides up to enclose and press the edges together.

Place on a tray and repeat with remaining pastry and filling – you should have about 16 mini pies. Whisk the egg with the remaining cream and brush over pies, sprinkle with sesame seeds, then chill while the oven preheats to 190 degrees Celsius. Cook the pies for 30-35 minutes until golden. Serve ‘‘as-is’’, or with seed mustard or a good tomato or apricot chutney.