Hey All, I don’t know how we got here so quickly, but we are driving full speed through another holiday season. I took a little break over the holiday week from social media and my computer. It feels comforting to turn down the volume for a bit and focus on spending time with our kids in the moment. I hope you give yourself time to just be during what can be a busy and hectic season.
I also took a little bit of a break from cooking this last week after a couple of busy days of cooking a feast, so I was surprised that I still had a surplus of leftovers that needed to be used. No, just denial! This time between Thanksgiving and Christmas for me feels like another change in seasons. I don’t tend to cook the same for Christmas as I do for Thanksgiving, and I’m not afraid to say that I prefer Christmas food over Thanksgiving, but that’s another story for another newsletter.
But, back to the matter at hand, I had a whole breast of turkey, an abundance of potatoes and other root vegetables, and some sad wilting leeks. I wanted something warm, and comforting on a dark and chilly night. My mind went to pot pie, a dish I have loved since childhood.
During my early years pot pie was not homemade it came out of the freezer, the brand eludes me, but it was either of the “Banquet or Swanson’s” variety. I loved to bake it so long that the top crust was golden and crispy, but the bottom crust still stayed slightly undercooked, so it was a little bit silky, dare I say gooey? Delicious, and craveable! It should be eaten molten hot straight out of the oven.
This was never a dinner item as a child, but there were always a few in the freezer for an after-school snack or weekend lunch. I still have an affinity in my heart for those frozen staples, but these days my preferred option is the homemade variety, and I think pot pie is the perfect dish for using up leftovers. Some kind of roasted meat, aromatics, root vegetables, rich gravy, and some kind of crust. Traditionally this would be in the form of pie crust, but I’ve made it with a biscuit topping, puff pastry, and mashed potatoes (think Shepherd Pie), leftover stuffing would be great here, or if all you have lying around and don’t want to go the the trouble of making more pie crust, some frozen filo that I always seem to have in my freezer if I don’t have puff pastry.
You can use whatever meat or veg you have, or omit meat and just do veg. You could also add some chickpeas or other beans in place of meat. I have two must-haves, peas and potatoes. Your must-haves may be different than mine, so customize, customize, customize. This is also a good place to use up any extra gravy you have should it have lasted this long. I like to cut my ingredients small enough so I can get some of them all in one bite.
Think of this recipe as more of a guiding light, and less of a must-do. The ratio for roux is the only part that you should adhere to for a thick and rich sauce to coat all of the yummy ingredients inside. For my refrigerator quick-fire, as my husband calls any dish I make with leftover things lying around, I used leeks, parsnips, potato, turkey, and filo for the crust. The filo has a nice crispiness, and lightness that we really enjoyed. Share your pot pie adventures with me online!
Pick Your Own Adventure Pot Pie
Yields 6 servings
½ cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups aromatics (onions, leeks, shallots, celery)
1 Tbsp chopped garlic
4 cups of root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, potato, rutabaga, turnip, winter squash, celery root, beets) cut into ½-inch cubes
1 tsp kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp roasted chicken “Better Than Bouillon”
4 cups water
2 cups diced cooked meat (turkey, chicken, roast, or chickpeas)
1 cup frozen peas
½ cup heavy cream, optional
Optional: bay leaf, fresh thyme leaves, chopped parsley, or other herbs.
Crust: 8 oz filo, pie crust (you can do a top and bottom), puff pastry, biscuits, leftover stuffing
Melted butter for glazing
Flaky sea salt
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. If just using a top crust, put an oven-proof skillet over medium heat and add the butter. Add your aromatics and garlic, gently sweat, and turn the heat down if you start to get browning. Add in your root vegetables and stir to combine. Season the salt and pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes just to start to soften the root vegetables.
Stir in the flour, and stir to coat, gently cook for about a minute to cook off the raw flour taste. Add in the chicken bouillon and stir to combine. Slowly add in the water stirring constantly until the flour and bouillon fully dissolve into the water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and reduce the heat to low to simmer. The sauce will not thicken fully until it comes to a full boil.
Cook the sauce until it starts to thicken, and the vegetables are tender. Add in the meat if using, peas and cream. Stir to combine. Taste your sauce and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.
Top with whatever crust you like, and brush with butter. If using filo, you will want to layer the filo sheets one at a time and brush with a generous amount of melted butter in between, 6-8 layers. Sprinkle the top with flaky sea salt.
Bake for 35-40 minutes (you may need longer if using biscuits) until the crust is golden brown, and the filling is bubbling around the edges. You can make this ahead and freeze or refrigerate. You will need to adjust your timing, frozen cook for 60-90 minutes, refrigerated for 45-60 minutes.
Note: If you want a traditional pot pie with a bottom and top crust you will need a full pie crust recipe, either THE Pie Crust from my blog or store-bought. Make sure you have enough for two crusts. Roll out half the crust to one inch wider than your pan (a pie pan is perfect for this), fill with cooled filling (you will want to make your filling ahead and cool it before filling your pie crust), and roll out your top crust, and top the filling. Press the edges down to seal. Trim the pie crust edge to about 1 inch beyond the plate and roll under. Finish with a crimp or pleat, you can find directions for this on my website.