Chicken pot pie is just one of those dishes everyone loves. It’s meaty, hearty and has a delicious pastry. I actually only top mine with pastry since I make a thinner stew than the ones with a full pastry, but you could easily thicken it more and pre-bake tart shells with a pastry to fully envelop the pot pie if you wanted.
We always have leftover chicken in the fridge, normally from a beautifully roasted Sunday chicken dinner. If I’m not turning it into matzo ball soup or chicken salad, you better believe it’s chicken pot pie for dinner! This is the classic version which uses
Ingredients
1/2 roast chicken, light and dark meat, shredded
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 small or 3 large leeks, white and light green parts, sliced and rinsed well
1 large carrot (unpeeled), diced
3 stalks celery (with leaves), diced
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 tbsp butter, divided
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen pearl onions
1 yellow potato, diced
1 quart homemade chicken stock
2 tbsp heavy cream
3 tbsp flour
1 sheet of puff pastry rolled to 1/4 inch
1 egg, beaten
Directions
Preheat oven to 375F.
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a dutch oven. Add the onions, leeks, celery and carrots, season with salt and pepper and saute for 5-7 minutes until soft. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Add the potato and cook for 3-5 minutes until the wine is nearly absorbed into the vegetables. Add the peas and pearl onions. Add the thyme, garlic and parsley and cook for 1 minute until the garlic is fragrant. Stir in the chicken and add the chicken stock. Return to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, mash the remaining 3 tbsp butter with the flour to form a paste (called a Beurre manié).
Beat the egg with 1 tbsp water and set aside. When the soup has cooked for 10 minutes and the potatoes are soft, raise the heat to medium, add the Beurre manié and allow the soup to thicken for about 5 minutes. Test for seasoning and remove from the heat. Add the heavy cream and stir to combine; set aside.
Roll the pastry dough (or puff pastry) to 1/4″ thickness. Place the ramekin or oven safe soup bowl upside down, and cut the pastry into circles 1″ larger than the dish. Fill each dish with the thickened soup and brush the top of the bowl (inside and out) with the egg wash. Place the pastry over the dish and press lightly to the sides. Brush the pastry with remaining egg wash, sprinkle with salt and cut two 1″ slits in the pastry to allow the steam to escape.
Bake the pot pies on a sheet pan for 20 minutes until the pastry is puffed and brown, and the stew bubbly. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes to cool – pot pie has the specific heat capacity of about 1 billion, believe me, your tongue will thank you! Serve on a plate covered with a cloth napkin, and remind your guests not to touch the soup bowl handle. Bon appetit!
The Homemade Chef 