Would you believe that I had never made traditional pastry topped chicken pot pie before this recipe? I’ve never been a fan of pastry, and so I always topped it with biscuits. This recipe intrigued me, and a few weeks ago I decided to try it. The filling was so delicious, and made fantastic leftovers.The only issue was that it had too much sauce, so I recommend reducing the amount of liquid. You can always add more later, but I felt like I was making pastry topped soup at first.
The flavor in this was amazing, and the leftovers were even more delicious the next day. I’ve definitely added this as my go-to recipe for chicken pot pie!
Chicken Pot Pie
Adapted from Food Network Jan/Feb 2011
Crust:
1 cup flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
4 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg, separated
2 Tbsp milk
Filling:
2 smallish russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3-4 cups low sodium chicken broth (the original recipe states 4 ½ cups, but I found this to be far too much and would start out with less. You can always add more)
5 medium carrots, cut into large chunks
1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 tbsp flour
1/3 cup milk
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 cups cooked, shredded chicken (you could use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken)
½ cup plain Greek Yogurt
1 cup frozen peas
½ cup minced fresh parsley
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. Add the butter and cut in with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Set aside.
In a small bowl mix the egg yolk and milk together with a fork, then add to the flour mixture, stirring until the dough comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and gather into a ball, kneading a couple of times if you need to in order to have the dough come together. Wrap and put into fridge to chill for at least an hour.
Put the potatoes in a pot of cold water on the stove and bring to a boil, cooking until just tender crisp. Drain and let steam dry in the colander. Set aside.
In a large pot, bring the chicken broth, carrots, and thyme to a simmer over medium heat and cook for about 2 minutes. Turn down and keep the mixture warm. Set aside.
Using a large fry pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onion, stirring and cooking until it’s soft and translucent. Add the flour and continue stirring to let it toast a little, about 3 minutes. Add the milk, celery, potato, and warm broth/carrot mixture. Simmer until thickened, for about 15 minutes (if it doesn’t thicken up enough for you whisk some flour into a little milk and add it). Remove from the heat and stir in the chicken, yogurt, peas and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Pour the filling into a 2 quart casserole dish. Remove the pastry from the fridge and on a lightly floured counter, roll it out to about 1/8 of an inch thick and slightly larger than the dish. In a small bowl beat the reserved egg white and brush all over the dough. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and press the dough against the sides of the dish.
Bake at 425 F for about 20-25 minutes, until the mixture is nice and bubbly.
Serves 6