Pot Pies

Sibby Barrett

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 30

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large russet potato diced, peeled or not
3 ribs celery diced
1 medium onion diced
1 medium shallot diced
2 medium carrots scrubbed and diced
1/2-3/4 cup peas alternately, 3-4 cups any diced vegetables or frozen mixed vegetables
salt and pepper
tablespoon Mediterranean Spice or Juniper Provence Spice or your favorite spice blend
juice of one lemon
3-4 cups cooked, shredded chicken, turkey, beef or pork optional meat, will reduce the number of pies

1 or 2 package(s) pie crust (2 per box)* use two if you'd like extra dough top pieces. Alternately, see recipe for Flaky Butter Crust to make your own. room temp, then unrolled
milk, half and half or cream plus coarse salt for brushing and sprinkling

In a medium sized saucepan, over medium high heat, melt butter until foamy; sprinkle in flour and cook, whisking frequently for 2-3 minutes to cook the flour. Gradually whisk in milk and cook for 6-8 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat and whisk in Dijon and cheese. Stir gently to melt the cheese. Set aside.

Place the butter and olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add potato and cook, stirring frequently for 3-5 minutes, until just beginning to soften. Add celery, onions, shallots and carrots and continue to saute for 7-9 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Gently stir in peas. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add spice mix and lemon. If using meat, stir in shredded meat. Set filling aside to cool. (spreading out onto a sheet pan helps this process to speed up) Mix filling and sauce together; taste and adjust seasoning.

If using the box of dough rounds, roll out on a lightly floured surface until slightly larger than it comes, about 14". I sometimes make 2-9" rounds, 1- 9" x 11" casserole or 10-12 small indivdual pies in various ramekins or foil pans. It is a good idea to lightly spray any pan you select with cooking spray before putting your dough in the baking dish. I usually get 5-6 dough rounds for the mini pies per dough round. Cut your dough according to the pans you have selected, cutting each piece slightly larger than the pan(s) so you have a bit to tuck under around the edges. Hang on to all of your scraps to use on top of the pies. *If you want a lot of pastry on top, thaw out an extra dough round so you can be extravagant with those decorative pieces. Gently fit the dough pieces in your pans, tucking extra dough under to create a crust edge. Place on a parchment lined sheet pan and chill those shells and topping bits for at least 15 minutes or freeze for 5-7 minutes. Preheat oven to 375º. I like to add a pizza stone to my oven to set the pies on, or just place a sheet pan in the oven during the preheat and set the pies on the hot pan to bake from the bottom up. No soggy bottoms!

When dough has chilled and oven is properly preheated, spoon filling into prepared pastry shells and top with scrap bits of the dough or pieces you cut from the extra round, if you opted for lots of topping. Brush with milk. I like to sprikle with a bit of coarse salt at this point.

These can be frozen unbaked or baked. Add 20-40 minutes extra baking time if baking frozen pies.

Keyword chicken pot pies, freezer food, leftovers, pot pies, vegetable pot pies