This is a combination of two of my favorite pot pie recipes, one from Bon Appetit and the second from Ina Garten. Bon Appetit's pie uses potatoes, carrots and broccoli rather than the more traditional pearl onions and peas. As expected, Ina Garten's pastry is light, flaky, delicious and easy to work with. It took me about an hour to prep the filling for the pot pie, but I made it on Saturday afternoon. For Sunday dinner, all I needed to do was scoop the filling into a large casserole dish, top with a gorgeous crust, then wait for the wonderful smell of chicken pot pie to fill the kitchen.
This is by no means a lot fat dish, however, I did cut down on the amount of butter used (four tablespoons instead of 12 for the filling and 8 instead of 16 for the pie dough). I roasted the chicken in the oven so that I could use the pan drippings to flavor the sauce. I used a stand mixer rather than my food processor to make the dough It seems easier to make sure the dough is mixed gently in the Kichenaid. If you over-process the dough, it will be tough rather than flaky.
This made enough filling for one large pie for six people and a smaller one that I'll freeze for later (that one will serve two). If you have a casserole large enough, you can put it all in one dish. One of the recipes recommended bringing the chilled filling to a simmer before adding to the dish. I really try to minimze the number of pots I need to clean, so I opted to skip this step and just bake the pie for an extra 15 minutes. It worked beautifully; the dish was golden brown on top and heated through.
Chicken Pot Pie
For the pastry
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 tablespoons shortening, cold, cut into 8 pieces
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into 8 pieces
- 1/3 cup ice water
Add dry ingredients to bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed to combine. Add butter and shortening and mix on low speed until fat is the size of peas. Add ice water and continue to mix on low until dough comes together. Flatten into a disk; wrap in plastic and refrigerate until needed, at least 30 minutes and up to one day.
For the Chicken Filling (I usually chop the onions and prep the other vegetables while the chicken is in the oven)
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter plus 1 tablespoon vegetable or grapeseed oil
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 8 cups of broth (preferably homemade, realistically Trader Joe's)
- 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed into one inch pieces
- 8 carrots, peeled, halved, then cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 egg, beaten to blend for egg wash
Preheat oven to 375. Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet (I use an All Clad 14 inch skillet) over medium high heat. Add 1/2 tablespoon of butter and oil. When oil is hot, add chicken and cook until browned on one side, 3 minutes. Turn chicken and cook on second side for 2 minutes. Roast in oven for 10 minutes. Remove chicken to a bowl to cool.
Add butter to hot skillet (keep a pot holder on the handle; it will stay hot for a long time) and heat over medium low. Once butter is melted, saute onions for 10 minutes, undtil soft, scrapping browned bits from bottom of pan. Remove pan from heat.
Prep the vegetabes: Heat broth to a simmer in a large sauce pan. Cook potatoes for 10 minutes, then remove with slotted spoon and place in a large bowl. Cook carrots for 10 minutes and remove to bowl (note: the bowl in the photo is not large enough. Use the largest one you have so that you have room to mix the vegetables/chicken with the sauce.. Cook broccoli for 3 minutes and add to bowl. Chop chicken into one inch pieces and add to bowl. Add any juices from bowl to the broth in saucepan. You should have about 4 cups of broth left in the saucepan. If you do not, add more broth (or water) to make 4 cups total.
Reheat the pan with the onions over medium heat. Add flour to onions and stir to coat; cook for 1-2 minutes. Add broth from saucepan to skillet. Stir for about 5 minutes to thicken sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken and vegetables. Toss to coat. The chicken and sauce can be prepared a day in advance to this point. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 375.
Spoon all of filling into a four quart casserole dish or divide between a 1 quart and 2 1/2 quart casserole dishes.
Remove pastry from refrigerator and let sit for 5 minutes to soften. Lightly coat a cutting board with flour; turn dough to coat. Roll out crust to fit casserole dish, turning frequently so it doesn't stick. If you are using two dishes, cover the larger one first, then reroll scraps for second dish.
Place dough over dish; trim to a half-inch overhang. Cut 4 large slits in crust. Brush top with egg wash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. There wasn't enough dough to hang over the sides of the smaller dish; I just tucked it in around the top.
Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Serve, scooping the sauce from the dish over the chicken and vegetables. Refrigerate leftovers
