Monday Night Chicken Pie // everyday Comforts with Laura Jones

Welcome to the Everyday Comforts series

By Laura Jones

After ten years of living in Dubai, raising my family and slowly building a home that feels cosy and welcoming, I’ve learnt that comfort isn’t about making things fancy it’s more about making things easy and lived in and finding joys in the simple everyday moments.

For me, so much of that comfort comes from food. Whether it’s sitting around the table together, eating dinner and chatting about our day (and let’s be honest, sometimes that dinner is eaten in the car on the way to after-school activities), or slow weekends spent baking with my three daughters.

It’s the familiar things that mean the most, a warm meal waiting at the end of a long day or a simple pudding with a good cuppa once the house finally goes quiet.

My Everyday Comforts are the dinners and bakes you will come back to again and again.

A one pan chicken pie pulled straight from the oven. 

A warm cookie dunked into a cold glass of milk.

Nothing fancy, just good comforting food that fits around real life.

I love sharing easy, affordable recipes that don’t ask too much of you, that are made with ingredients you probably already have in your cupboards and with time you actually have too. 

This Monday Night Chicken Pie has quietly become a Monday night tradition in our house. 

Made with leftover chicken from our Sunday roast and pulled together in one pan, it’s the kind of dinner that feels deeply comforting without any fuss. Reliably crowd pleasing, it’s still my most popular and most requested recipe to date.

Tip: I always make it in a cast-iron pan that’s safe for the hob and oven, which means fewer dishes! 

---

Monday Night Chicken Pie

Ingredients

• Handful of leeks or 1 white onion, finely chopped

• Mixed vegetables (frozen or leftover — carrots, sweetcorn, peas, even broccoli work beautifully)

• Leftover cooked chicken, shredded or chopped

• Salt and black pepper

• Garlic granules

• Dried sage 1/2 tsp

• Chicken seasoning (I use Waitrose)

• 500ml chicken stock

• 250ml cooking cream

• 1 heaped tablespoon cornflour, mixed with a little water to form a slurry

• Ready-to-roll puff pastry

• 1 egg, beaten (for brushing)

---

Method

1. Heat your cast-iron pan over a medium heat and gently fry the leeks or onion until soft and translucent.

2. Add the vegetables and cook until just warmed through.

3. Stir in the leftover chicken and season generously with garlic granules, salt, pepper and sage.

4. Pour in the chicken stock and cream, then add the cornflour slurry to thicken.

5. Simmer for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the filling is creamy and rich but not runny.

6. Roll out the puff pastry to fit the pan, laying it over the filling and tucking in the edges.

7. Brush with egg wash and bake at 180°C for 40 minutes, or until golden, crisp and bubbling around the edges.

This dish is best served straight from the pan while the pastry is crisp and the filling still gently bubbling.

A simple, reliable dinner that never fails to please.

//

Follow Laura on Instagram @homebylaurajones

If you have any questions or ideas for this column, we'd love to hear from you. Please email hello@raemona.com