3 onions, 1 chopped and 2 sliced into chunky rounds
A few peppercorns
20g butter
250g asparagus, trimmed and chopped on the diagonal into 2.5 cm pieces
For the pastry
420g plain flour, plus extra to dust
250g ice-cold unsalted butter, cubed
60g Italian hard cheese, grated
1tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp salt
1-2tsp ice-cold water
1 egg, beaten, to brush
For the sauce
30g butter
30g plain flour
800ml whole milk
Handful roughly chopped wild garlic, plus extra leaves and flowers to top the pie
Handful finely chopped tarragon
Method
Put the whole chicken in a large stockpot with the leek, garlic, chopped onion and peppercorns. Fill the pan with cold water, bring it to the boil, then let it simmer very gently for 45 minutes until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 70C on a temperature probe, or the juices run clear when you insert a skewer into the thigh. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a frying pan and gently cook the two sliced onions for around 30 minutes until meltingly soft. Transfer the poached chicken to a tray to rest and cool slightly. Reserve the stock.
For the pastry, add the flour, cubed butter, cheese, cayenne pepper and salt to a food processor and quickly pulse to a fine crumb. Add 1tsp cold water at a time until the pastry comes together – be careful not to make it too wet or it will be tough. Tip the dough on to a floured surface and use your hands to lightly bring it together into a ball, then wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to rest. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the meat from the bone into pie- size chunks. Mingle the chicken, sliced onions and asparagus together in a large pie dish (approx. 30x25cm) and season with salt and pepper.
To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a pan and add the flour, then whisk for a few minutes, allowing it to cook through until it smells biscuity. Start to whisk in the milk gradually – it will thicken up very quickly to start with, but just keep whisking and adding the milk a little at a time, letting it heat through between additions. It will continue to thicken as it gets hot. Once you have added all the milk, add a couple of ladlefuls of the reserved stock and let it heat through. You’re aiming for a silky sauce about the thickness of cream. Season with salt and pepper and stir through the chopped wild garlic and tarragon. Pour the sauce into the pie dish and mix until the chicken and vegetables are fully coated.
Preheat the oven to 210C/190C F/Gas 6 while you assemble the pie. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until it is big enough to fit the pie dish – it should be about 5mm thick. Brush a little beaten egg around the edge of the dish, then place the pastry over the pie dish, pressing on the edges so the pastry sticks to the dish. Trim off the excess pastry and crimp the edge using your finger and thumb in a pinching motion.
Brush the top of the pie with more beaten egg and lay whole wild garlic leaves and any flowers over the top. Brush them with more egg and bake the pie for 40 minutes until the pastry is golden all over and the filling is bubbling. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Recipes and photographs taken from Service by Anna Hedworth, photography by Andrew Montgomery (Quadrille, £30)
