Turkey and ham pie

You can’t beat a home-made pie – it’s up there with soup and a cracking roast in terms of ‘most comforting things to cook’ in my book.

And it doesn’t have to be difficult or time consuming, thanks to frozen pastry.

Turkey or chicken and ham pie is a fantastic way to turn leftovers into a midweek treat and it’s pretty forgiving in terms of what you chuck into the filling.

Here’s a version I did recently with some turkey breast – not leftovers, I quickly poached it in a little stock to start things off. It’s a ‘healthy’ version (one layer of pastry and no cream).

Start by sweating off a leak in a little butter until soft. Then stir in a tablespoon of flour and cook that through for a minute or two.

Pour in a good slug of white wine or dry vermouth and cook for another minute or two. Add a generous pinch of thyme, a grate of nutmeg and plenty of black pepper before adding about 400ml of stock.

Now add two heaped tablespoons of creme fraiche – it’s much lower in fat than cream and the flavour is a bit more interesting. Put the cooked meat in – chunks of turkey, chicken and/or ham.

Simmer this down for 10-20 minutes until thickened. Pour into an ovenproof dish brush the top of the dish around with some beaten egg to help the pastry stick. Now top with the pastry (ready-made puff pastry) and press down with a fork around the edge to make a seal.

Cut a small hole in the middle to allow steam to escape and brush with more beaten egg. Bake at around 170 decC for half an hour until the pastry is golden brown.

Enjoy with lots of veg and a smug smile. And a beer.