Christmas leftovers: turkey pie recipe by Ollie Dabbous

This deliciously simple turkey pie recipe is the perfect way to make the most of Christmas Day leftovers. Scatter your pie with spring onions, fennel and tarragon sprigs for an impressive looking pie that’s deceptively easy to make.

Turkey Pie recipe serves 5-6

Adapted from Essential by Ollie Dabbous

Pie filling

400g of roast turkey or chicken

4 tablespoons garlic oil

2 carrots, peeled and quartered, then sliced across into 1cm pieces

25g salted butter

1 leek, quartered, then sliced across into 1cm pieces

1 celery stick, peeled, halved, then sliced across into 1cm pieces

100g shiitake mushrooms, halved

3 garlic cloves, crushed

200g canned sweetcorn, drained

100g frozen peas, defrosted

2 tablespoons chopped thyme leaves

2 tablespoons chopped tarragon leaves

finely grated zest of ½ lemon

Bechamel sauce

500g whole milk

½ white onion, peeled and sliced

2 cloves

¼ teaspoon ground mace

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

50g unsalted butter

25g plain flour

Pie topping 

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons milk or cream

2 sheets of frozen puff pastry, defrosted

To decorate (optional)

spring onions, shredded

red onions, cut into slim petals

fennel fronds

tarragon sprigs

pansies

Step 1. Make the Bechamel sauce

• Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan then add the onion, spices, mustard and salt, cover and leave to infuse for 20 minutes. Pass through a sieve.

• Heat the butter in a large saucepan, stir in the flour and mix until smooth.

• Add the hot infused milk a bit at a time and whisk to combine until smooth.

• Once all the milk has been added, bring to the boil, whisking continuously, then remove from the heat.

Step 2. Prepare the pie filling 

• Sweat the carrots in the butter in a saute pan for 5 minutes, lid on, then add the leek and celery, season lightly with salt, cover and cook for another 5 minutes.

• Add the mushrooms and garlic, cover and cook for a final 5 minutes.

• Add the sweetcorn, peas, thyme and tarragon, then remove from the heat and mix in the leftover roasted turkey and bechamel with the lemon zest.

• Check the seasoning and leave to cool.

Step 3. Assemble and cook your pie

• Preheat the oven to 190°C (gas mark 5)

• Mix the egg yolk and milk or cream in a small bowl to make an egg wash.

• From the first sheet of pastry, cut out a circle using the top of an ovenproof frying pan as a guide. This is the lid.

• Cut a circle of greaseproof paper large enough to cover the base of the same ovenproof frying pan and come all the way up the sides. Use this as a guide to cut out a circle of pastry of the same size. This is the base. Place the circle of pastry in the pan, pushing it flat against the sides.

• Fill with the cooled turkey pie mix, making sure it doesn’t cover the top of the pastry rim.

• Top with the pastry lid, pinching the edges of both pastry circles together to crimp and join.

• With some of the pastry trim, you may cut out some leaf shapes or make a simple lattice to garnish the pie.

• Brush with egg wash and leave for 10 minutes, then brush again with egg wash and place in the oven.

• Cook for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 170°C (gas mark 4)  and cook for another 20 minutes.

To decorate

• Scatter over the vegetables, herbs and flowers, if using, and return the pie to the oven for a final 5 minutes for the decorations to crisp up, then serve.

About Essential

Ollie Dabbous is one of the UK's most exciting and creative chefs. He burst onto the scene in 2012 when he opened DABBOUS to rapturous reviews, and was awarded a Michelin star in months. His restrained but stunning dishes celebrate the essence of ingredients and flavour and he is currently bringing his iconic style of cooking to his new venture HIDE in Mayfair and the newly reopened private dining experience Above at HIDE.

Essential is his first cookbook for home cooks and it is made up of 100 everyday recipes: pitch-perfect versions of familiar dishes like cauliflower cheese, risotto, tuna steak, roast beef and cheesecake.

Each chapter takes a different ingredient type – from Grains through to Fruit and Berries – and the recipes are simple, unfussy and incredibly elegant. Ollie may be Michelin-starred but in this book he doesn't use complicated techniques or tools, making Essential the perfect gift for anyone who wants to enjoy restaurant-quality food at home.

About Ollie Dabbous

Ollie Dabbous started cooking as a kitchen hand in Florence when he was fifteen. He worked at Kensington Place for Rowley Leigh, but it was his years spent working with Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons that most profoundly influenced his cooking. He went on to be head chef at the Scandinavian-influenced Texture on Portman Street, and has also spent time at Mugaritz, Noma, Hibiscus, L'Astrance, Pierre Gagnaire and WD50. He opened his first restaurant DABBOUS in 2012.