leek and bacon pie

Now I have a new cooker or in other words a cooker that works, I am wanting to try some new recipes and as I said in my goals for 2016 post, I am going to try a new recipe every week . . . last year my auntie got some of my family to send her some recipes that they thought I would like and put them together into a folder for me, so the first new recipe comes from that folder and last week I tried Ruth's Leek and Bacon Pie.

first you need to make some puff pastry

EASY PUFF PASTRY

125g plain flour (plus extra for rolling)
140g butter
1/4 tsp salt
60ml cold water

1. Place the flour and salt into a mixing bowl.
2. Cut the butter into small pieces and put into the bowl with the flour.
3. With your hands, rub the butter into the flour until the pieces of butter are no bigger than peas (do not be tempted to rub the butter in fully)
4. Add the water and mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a dough.
5. Sprinkle flour onto the work surface and your rolling pin and roll out the pastry into a long rectangle.
6. Fold 1/3 of the rectangle over the middle 1/3 of the pastry and the final 1/3 over the other 2/3rds.
7. Lift the pastry, turn 90 degrees and roll out into a long rectangle and repeat steps 5-7 several times.
8. Place folded pastry square into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge to rest for an hour.
9. Roll pastry into the desired shape.
10. Bake at 220C or Gas Mark 7 unless the recipe tells you otherwise (eg. for a pie, Gas 5/180C)

LEEK AND BACON PIE (serves 4)

250g ready made puff pastry
250g bacon
4 leeks, sliced
75g butter
2 Tbsp plain flour
400ml milk
sprinkle of nutmeg
large handful of grated cheese
black pepper

1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 5 or 180C
2. Roll puff pastry into the required shape for your pie dish, 0.5cm thick on a lightly floured work surface.
3. Place the bacon into a frying pan and gently fry for 5 mins.
4. Add the sliced leeks and saute for another 5 mins.
5. Make the cheeses sauce - melt the butter on a low heat. Stir in the flour until it makes a thick paste. Add the milk slowly, constantly whisking while gently heating.
6. Eventually the sauce will begin to thicken so add the nutmeg and black pepper. Continue stirring until it is the required consistency.
7. Place the cooked leeks and bacon and grated cheese into the bottom of a pie dish and pour over the white sauce.
8. Place the pastry on top of the dish, tucking in the edges of the pastry.
9. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. 

This was a really delicious meal. I made it with mashed potatoes and will definitely be making it again. You could half the amount of leeks and add potatoes or other veg instead too. I also made it in a Pyrex casserole dish as didn't have a pie dish and to be honest it needed to be that big to fit it all in.