Ingredients

• 40g unsalted butter
• 1 leek (white part only), thinly sliced
• 6 button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 3/4 cup Massel chicken style liquid stock
• 3/4 cup thickened cream
• 2 tablespoons good-quality basil pesto, plus extra to serve if desired
• 3 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 6 vol-au-vent cases
• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon nigella seeds or sesame seeds (optional)
• 250g vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Method

• Step 1 Preheat the oven to 180C. Melt butter in a pan over medium-low heat. Add leek and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add mushroom and cook for a further minute, then add flour and stir for 1 minute. Gradually stir in chicken stock, then bring mixture to simmer. Add cream and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until thickened. Cool, season, then stir in pesto. Stir the chicken into the sauce.
• Step 2 Using a vol-au-vent as a template, cut 6 lids from puff pastry sheets. Place vol-au-ents on a baking tray and fill with chicken mixture. Brush edge of pastry lids with a little water and place on top, pressing edges to seal. Brush tops of pies with beaten egg and sprinkle with nigella seeds, if using. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.
• Step 3 Meanwhile, place tomatoes on a tray, drizzle with olive oil and season. Bake in the oven with pies for 6-8 minutes until tomatoes are just starting to burst. Serve pies with tomatoes and extra pesto, if desired.