A chicken, spinach and tarragon, deep filled pie in a creamy sauce. Suitable for a family meal or a large gathering which looks impressive for a meal which is easy to assemble. The filo pastry topping gives it the wow factor and adds a delicious crunch to each bite for a pie without the heaviness of thick pastry.
A pretty way to present a creamy, chicken pie is to top it with bunched filo pastry which turns golden and crisp during cooking to create a beautiful and impressive topping! It never fails to bring a few oohs and ahhs when you present this pie to a table of hungry guests.
By using filo pastry, it allows you to have that crunchy topping without all the calories a shortcrust or puff pastry pie would bring. It elevates the baked, creamy chicken casserole filling to an extra special level.
The filling is full of tarragon and parsley herbs which gives it such a fresh flavour against the creaminess of the sauce.
A winning dish all round!
If you love a hearty dish such as this, you will love my recipe for Scalloped Potato Topped Slow Cooked Beef Casserole.
ABOUT THIS RECIPE for Chicken, Spinach & Tarragon Filo Pastry Topped Pie
- It’s a great mid-week family meal because it can be prepared several hours before or the day before you need to eat.
- It can be prepared and frozen if you would like to be super organised! Simply make the sauce (without adding the filo topping) and store in a suitable container. Top with the filo pastry once defrosted and it’s ready to bake.
- It’s a great recipe for doubling up to feed a crowd! I doubled the recipe and used 2 oven-proof dished to serve 8.
- The base flavour of the pie is made from a combination of leek, celery, shallots, miso paste and garlic which is gently cooked to soften and release the flavours before adding a combination of full cream milk and chicken stock with flour to build the creamy sauce.
- The beautifully intense aniseed and vanilla flavour of tarragon is what really stands out in this dish – it’s one of my favourite herbs to use with chicken.
TOP TIPS & VARIATIONS
- If you can buy a cooked chicken from your local deli counter, this will make it much quicker to create this dish without the fuss of roasting your own chicken.
- I would only create stock from the bones of an organic chicken. You can make a big batch of stock and freeze in portions to use in soup or sauces. Homemade stock has so many more health benefits than using a store bought stock cube which is mainly made from salt, meat flavouring and some dried herbs. Home-made stock has a variety of minerals and nutrients, plus the intense flavour. You can then add your own good quality salt to the recipe to your taste.
- This recipe tastes good with the addition of some cooked ham or bacon. Add this to the recipe at the same time as you add the cooked chicken.
- The sauce can be made a day in advance and kept in the fridge. Increase the cooking time by 15 minutes before adding the filo topping as described in the instructions below, if cooking from fridge temperature.
- You can freeze the filling after step 8 of the recipe. Just allow to cool slightly before storing in a glass container which is suitable for freezing. Defrost in the fridge over night before topping with filo pastry and cooking as per instructions.
- You can vary the greens in the pie depending on what you have available; frozen peas, watercress, asparagus, spinach, chard, kale etc all work well.
- Do not re-heat after cooking as the chicken has already been cooked and then re-heated in the pie and should not be re-heated again.
- If you do not have brown rice miso paste – swap for half the amount of wholegrain mustard. They do not have the same flavour profile as each other but the depth and hit of flavour they add is equal. Wholegrain mustard is usually a store cupboard staple whereas brown rice miso paste is not – hence the suggestion for the swap.
- VEGAN OPTION – you can swap the cooked chicken for cubed, pan fried tofu pieces. Use a vegetable oil for cooking the shallots, celery and leek at the start of the recipe. Swap the whole milk for a plant-based alternative such as almond or oat milk for a mild flavour or coconut milk for a fuller flavour.
INGREDIENTS for the Chicken, Spinach & Tarragon Filo Pastry Topped Pie
- 1TBSP ghee
- 3 shallots
- 1 leek
- 1 stick celery
- 1 large clove garlic
- 1 TBSP brown rice miso paste (or sub for 1/2 TBSP wholegrain mustard)
- 2 spoonfuls plain flour
- 350mls organic whole milk
- 250mls chicken stock
- 200g fresh spinach
- 1 bunch fresh tarragon
- 1 TBSP dried parsley
- 1 whole pre-cooked chicken – breast, thigh and leg meat removed from the chicken and shredded – approx. 400g meat.
- 500g Pre-boiled baby potatoes – quartered
- 5 sheets of filo pastry
Step by Step Process for the Chicken, Spinach & Tarragon Filo Pastry Topped Pie
STEP 1:
Start by gathering all of the ingredients together.
Wash and finely chop the shallots, celery and leek. Place them in a large pan with the ghee and cook over a low heat until the ghee has melted whilst stirring to ensure an even coating of the fat over the ingredients. Place a lid on the pan and leave to cook gently over a low heat for a further 5 minutes to allow to soften.
STEP 2:
After around 5 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and stir through the minced garlic, miso paste (or mustard) and flour.
Step 3:
Return the pan to the heat and very gradually pour the milk and the stock into the pan while stirring and heat gently for a few minutes. The aim is to thicken the liquid and this happens with a gradual adding, stirring and heating of the liquid and dry flour mixture which has fat in it (ghee). You do not need the sauce to thicken completely as it will continue to do this when baking in the oven.
STEP 4:
Next, add the washed spinach leaves to the pan.
Remove the fresh herbs from their stems and add those to the pan also. Stir through and allow the spinach to wilt a little which will reduce it’s volume.
STEP 5:
Now, add the cooked potatoes and cooked shredded chicken to the pan and give it all a good stir to combine all of the ingredients together. Season to taste with good quality sea salt and ground black pepper.
STEP 6:
Pour the pan contents into a suitable oven-proof dish. The size I used was a 5cm deep by 24cm diameter round oven-proof dish.
You can stop the recipe at this stage if you would like to eat the pie the following day. Simply cover and place in the fridge.
If you would like to keep the filling for a longer period before using, you can freeze it by storing it in a container suitable for the freezer. Simply remove from the freezer 24hrs before you would like to use it and allow to defrost fully in the fridge before following STEP 7: Topping and Baking the Pie.
STEP 7: Topping and Baking the Chicken, Spinach & Tarragon Filo Pastry Topped Pie
Remove the filo pastry from the fridge just before using it (filo pastry dry’s out quickly once removed from the fridge).
Using clean hands, take one piece of the filo pastry and scrunch it together to the size of roughly 1/5 of the size of your baking dish. Place it on top of the pie filling. Continue with the remaining 4 pieces of filo pastry until you have covered the whole pie.
Brush the filo pastry with a pastry brush and some melted butter.
STEP 8:
NOTE: There are 2 ways of baking the pie:
Version 1: If the filling was assembled using warm ingredients (if the chicken has just been roasted and the potatoes just boiled): Bake the pie in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C (fan) for 20-25 minutes .
Version 2: If the pie filling has been kept in the fridge: Bake the pie filling for 15 minutes BEFORE adding the filo topping. After 15 minutes, carefully remove the pie from the oven, add the filo pastry as described above and return the pie to the oven for a further 20-25 mins. This extra cooking time is needed as the pie filling will require longer to cook from fridge temperature but the filo pastry would burn if left cooking for the extra cooking time.
Check the pie filling is steaming hot before serving.
Serve with steamed greens.
Chicken, Spinach & Tarragon, Filo Pastry Topped Pie
Equipment
- 5cm deep by 24cm diameter round oven-proof dish
Ingredients
- 1 TBSP ghee
- 3 shallots
- 1 leek
- 1 stick celery
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 TBSP brown rice miso paste
- 2 spoonfuls plain flour
- 350 mls organic whole milk
- 250 mls chicken stock
- 200 g fresh spinach
- 1 bunch fresh tarragon
- 1 bunch fresh parsley
- 1 whole pre-cooked chicken breast, thigh and leg meat removed from the chicken and shredded – approx. 400g meat.
- 500 g baby potatoes Pre-boiled, cubed
- salt & pepper
Instructions
STEP 1:
- Start by gathering all of the ingredients together.
- Wash and finely chop the shallots, celery and leek. Place them in a large pan with the ghee and cook over a low heat until the ghee has melted whilst stirring to ensure an even coating of the fat over the ingredients. Place a lid on the pan and leave to cook gently over a low heat for a further 5 minutes to allow to soften.
STEP 2:
- After around 5 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and stir through the minced garlic, miso paste (or mustard) and flour.
STEP 3:
- Return the pan to the heat and very gradually pour the milk and the stock into the pan while stirring and heat gently for a few minutes. The aim is to thicken the liquid and this happens with a gradual adding, stirring and heating of the liquid and dry flour mixture which has fat in it (ghee). You do not need the sauce to thicken completely as it will continue to do this when baking in the oven.
STEP 4:
- Next, add the washed spinach leaves to the pan.
- Remove the fresh herbs from their stems and add those to the pan also. Stir through and allow the spinach to wilt a little which will reduce it's volume.
STEP 5:
- Now, add the cooked potatoes and cooked shredded chicken to the pan and give it all a good stir to combine all of the ingredients together. Season to taste with good quality sea salt and ground black pepper.
STEP 6:
- Pour the pan contents into your oven-proof dish.
- You can stop the recipe at this stage if you would like to eat the pie the following day. Simply cover and place in the fridge.
- If you would like to keep the filling for a longer period before using, you can freeze it by storing it in a container suitable for the freezer. Simply remove from the freezer 24hrs before you would like to use it and allow to defrost fully in the fridge before following STEP 7: Topping and Baking the Pie.
STEP 7: Topping and Baking the Chicken, Spinach & Tarragon Filo Pastry Topped Pie
- Remove the filo pastry from the fridge just before using it (filo pastry dry's out quickly once removed from the fridge).
- Using clean hands, take one piece of the filo pastry and scrunch it together to the size of roughly 1/5 of the size of your baking dish. Place it on top of the pie filling. Continue with the remaining 4 pieces of filo pastry until you have covered the whole pie.
- Brush the filo pastry with a pastry brush and some melted butter.
STEP 8:
- NOTE: There are 2 ways of baking the pie depending on the temperature of the filling when assembled:
- Version 1: If the filling was assembled using warm ingredients (chicken has just been roasted and potatoes have just been boiled): Bake the pie in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C (fan) for 20-25 minutes .
- Version 2: If the pie filling has been kept in the fridge: Bake the pie filling for 15 minutes BEFORE adding the filo topping. After 15 minutes, carefully remove the pie from the oven, add the filo pastry as described above and return the pie to the oven for a further 20-25 mins. This extra cooking time is needed as the pie filling will require longer to cook from fridge temperature but the filo pastry would burn if left cooking for the extra cooking time.
- Check the pie filling is steaming hot before serving.
- Serve with steamed greens.
