This pheasant pie recipe boasts a filling with white wine, stock and double cream to bolster the gravy — I challenge anyone to find something more indulgent. It has been my go-to for leftover Christmas turkey but I’ve also used pheasant or goose. You can swap out cold cuts for your preferred game. (Read more recipe ideas for using leftovers.)

Pheasant pie with a creamy leek sauce

Ingredients

• 1 pheasant, meat cut from breasts and cubed. Pheasant legs left whole
• 50g butter
• 1/2 white onion, finely diced
• 2 carrots, diced into small cubes
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/2 leek, very finely sliced
• 1tbsp, heaped, plain flour
• 100ml white wine
• 250ml of good chicken or pheasant stock
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 200ml double cream
• cornflour (optional)
• Good-quality puff pastry with butter
• 1 egg , beaten

1. Add a generous knob of butter to a pan, then brown the pheasant legs for a few minutes. Once browned, add the onions, carrots, garlic and leek, and stir for 3 minutes. Remove the legs from the pan and set aside.
2. Sprinkle 1tbsp of flour over the vegetables and pour in the wine. Let it cook out slowly before adding all the chicken stock. Once the stock is added, place the legs back in and leave to simmer with the lid on for 1 hour 30 minutes.
3. Once ready, take the legs out and leave to cool slightly before pulling the meat from the bones. Put the meat back in the pan with the stock and discard the bones. Stir in the mustard and Worcestershire sauce, then add the pheasant breast meat and mix.
4. Taste and season the stock before adding the double cream. Stir and reduce slightly to thicken. If you want your gravy thicker, you can add flour or cornflour to a small amount of cold water before stirring it into the gravy.
5. Place the pie mix into your chosen dish or dishes. Roll out the puff pastry and cut to size, place on the top and, if you wish, use a fork to score. Brush over the beaten egg with a pastry brush, then place the pie(s) in a preheated oven at 200°C/gas mark 6 for around 30 minutes until golden brown. You can eat this on its own if you like, or serve it with a side of creamy mashed potatoes and your vegetables of choice.

More on pheasant pie

When it comes to the tail end of the season and the temperature really drops, when I am out shooting or on a peg I often think of the recipe I am going to make with the first bird that I shoot. The wet spell really hasn’t helped, however, and as I sit in my kitchen typing out this recipe, the temperature has dropped to -2°C outside. For the south-east of England, this is the closest to Siberia that we’re going to get. However, with the cold comes comfort — and I absolutely love sitting by a log fire with hearty winter grub.

A pie is a British institution. It has everything you need; a nice buttery crust and a delicious rich filling with meat and vegetables. It is a one-stop shop and, in winter, it really cannot be beaten. This is why I chose my first meal from my first bird of the drive to be a delicious and richly creamy pheasant pie.