I found diced chicken, camembert, leek, sour cream, chicken stock, and leftover puff pastry from my mom, and decided to make a chicken leek and camembert pie. It’s a good time to learn how to properly pinch the pastry like a professional and hoped to achieve the right shape with God’s help.

“Leeks (Allium fistulosum L.) are nutrient-dense vegetables from the onion family, known for their sweet flavor and resemblance to giant green onions. They are rich in prebiotics, fiber, and antioxidants like kaempferol, promoting gut and heart health, improving digestion, and reducing cancer risks. High in fiber and low in calories, they support beneficial gut bacteria and regular bowel movements. Additionally, leeks are a good source of allicin, vitamins K and C, and provitamin A carotenoids, which aid in bone health, immunity, and eye health. Their sulfur compounds may help combat cancer cells, especially colorectal cancer, making them a great addition to weight-loss diets.”

“Camembert is a creamy cow’s milk cheese from Normandy, France, notable for its white mold rind and earthy flavour. It’s nutritious, providing high-quality protein, calcium, and vitamins A and B12, and may support brain health and gut microbiome health due to fermentation-produced compounds. However, it is high in fat and sodium, so it should be enjoyed in moderation as part of a balanced diet.”

Glad my first time pinch pie looks good. My pie is blonde in colour, as I didn’t have egg wash; use milk. Perhaps not cook long enough in air fryer as said by Google time is 12-13 minutes for small pie. It’s not puffy though creamy, comforting and delicious. Let’s air fryer pie!!!

Ingredients

For 2 small pies

200 g roasted chicken pieces, cut to bite size
2 sheets of puff pastry, thawed
1/2 small, white/light green part, sliced
Camembert about 125 g, sliced
20 g butter
30 ml white wine (OPT)
1-2 Tbs flour, thicken
2 Tbs sour cream
1 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 cup chicken stock, plus more if needed
1 Tbs oil
salt
black pepper
milk for glaze or 1 egg, lightly beaten
butter for greasing 2 small metal pie dish

Method

Preheat air fryer at 180°C for 5 minutes. Grease the two small metal pie dishes. Line the metal dishes with pastry until the top of the dish slightly. Pinch some pastry with thumb and index finger and the other hand index finger gently push pastry in between the other hand thumb and index finger until finish the circle. Repeat with the same pinch pastry of the second pie dish. The first pie dish pinching doesn’t look good but phew the second one is perfect.

Carefully place baking paper and then pour enough rice over two pie dishes. Blind bake puff pastry in an air fryer for 5 to 7 minutes. Do check frequently to avoid burning. After removing weights, bake for an additional 2-3 minutes to ensure the bottom is fully cooked and dry.

When it had cool down slightly after 10 minutes or so. “Allowing the pastry to cool down ensures the fat stays firm, maintaining the flaky texture.” I place the blind baked, cooled pastry in the fridge for 15-30 minutes before adding Camembert. Meantime, slice the camembert to thin slices and set aside in fridge.

Cook chicken and leek

Heat 1 Tbs oil and butter in a saucepan until butter melted. Add sliced leeks and garlic until soft. Add roast chicken pieces and warmed up for about 3-5 minutes. Add in the flour and cook for about 1 minute.

Remove saucepan from hob, add white wine and combine thoroughly. Then add stock, and place back on hob. Let it simmer until thick and stirring to ensure mixture has no lumps and is smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If mixture is too thick add in some more chicken stock. Simmer for a further 10 minutes until everything is cooked. Stir through sour cream and set the filling aside to cool completely.

Note: Always let the filling cool completely before filling the pastry, or the pastry will melt and become soggy before cooking.

Assemble and Bake

Bring out the 2 pie dishes, line the bottom with some Camembert, then spoon the chicken and leek filling over the top; not too much over the lining of dishes. Next place the remaining sliced Camembert over the top of the filling. Cover with pastry, and pinch some pastry with thumb and index finger and the other hand index finger gently push pastry in between the other hand thumb and index finger until finish the circle. Then brush with milk as I don’t have egg. For you brush with 1 egg lightly beaten. Bake at 180°C for 12-13 minutes as told by Google.

Mine is not golden brown as no egg wash glaze on the pastry. Or the baking time is not enough. Google: “Air fryer pastry often comes out pale rather than golden because the cooking method lacks the intense, sustained dry heat of a conventional oven, or because it lacks the necessary surface treatments to encourage browning. Both the time/temperature (shorter/lower) and the lack of a glaze (egg wash) contribute to this issue.

https://helenscchin.com/2024/04/14/air-fryer-chicken-leek-and-camembert-pie/

#helenscchinrecipes
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