One of my favorite meals, this is a somewhat simplified version of an already pretty straight-forward dish. I used a 12 inch cast-iron as my pie pan and it turned out really well, but a regular pie plate would work well too. I never really make pot pie for just a couple people, but you can cut down the number of servings, just remember to keep the same ratios (3:2:1) for the pie crust.
Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 c flour
- 1 1/3 c cold butter cubed
- 2/3 c ice water
- 1 egg yolk
Filling
- ½ Chicken breasts (white meat) or in combination with thighs and legs (dark meat), cubed
- 4 T butter
- 1/2 yellow onion diced
- 3-4 stalks celery diced
- 3-4 carrots peeled and diced
- 1/2 c frozen peas
- 2 T thyme
- Kosher salt
- Fresh black pepper
- 4 T flour
- 1/4 c white wine
- 2 c chicken stock
- 1/4 c heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚.
Crust
- Combine flour and butter in large bowl. Using pastry cutter, fork, or your hands, break butter into smaller pieces. It should still be clumpy, resembling rocky sand. Add ice water and mix. Should hold together, but not be wet. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably two.
- On lightly floured surface, cut dough in half, then roll into roughly 1/8 inch thick and roughly four inches larger than your pie pan or cast iron. Butter cast iron or pie plate, then add a couple tablespoons of flour and work it around the pan or plate to coat. Knock out the excess. Once crust is right thickness and size, use the rolling pin to lift up the dough and place it over pie plate.
- Wrap up other half of dough and put it back in the fridge and roll out when filling is done cooking, right before going into the oven.
- Press down in the corners of pie pan to make sure it’s all even. Make three small slits on the bottom, this allows air to escape and not develop bubbles. Place in middle rack in oven and par-cook for 10 minutes or so, until very lightly golden – you're just trying to establish a crust on the bottom so it doesn't get soggy when the filling is added. Once removed turn oven to 400˚.
Filling
- In large cast iron skillet, melt half of the butter over medium-high heat. Then add chicken and cook for 3 minutes or so. Remove and set aside.
- Add in other half of butter and add mirepoix. Sauté for 2 minutes, then season with a teaspoon of thyme and some salt and pepper and sauté for another minute.
- Now make a roux – add the flour, stirring to coat, cooking for a minute or two, then deglazing with the white wine. Stir and scrape off any browned pieces that may be on the bottom of the pan. Cook for roughly another minute or until the alcohol smell has pretty much gone away.
- Add in chicken stock, slowly, mixing as you go. Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes or so, then season again with some salt and pepper and thyme.
- Remove from heat, add cream and mix.
- Add filling to par-cooked crust. Top with other half of rolled dough crust. Brush top with beaten egg yolk.
- Cook for 15 minutes or so until crust is golden-brown. Let cool for a few minutes, then serve.