This cold weather is definitely having me search for comfort food. I also needed to do something with the rest of our roasted chicken. It always seems to be a challenge- what to do with the rest of that chicken? In fact, I sometimes hesitate to cook a whole roaster or buy those delicious ones you find at costco because our family will never finish it all and lots of juicy meat goes to waste. Now that I’ve discovered this dish, I will be roasting chickens just to make it!
This pot pie is VERY tasty and gets a little more sophisticated than the traditional one. With the unexpected flavors of shallots and fennel, the extra special veggie surprises of baby bellas and asparagus, this chicken pot pie will leave your taste buds begging for more. Luckily this recipe yields 2 pies- or at least an extra pot full of the delicious gravy and savory veggies that will be perfect on top of rice or your favorite bread!
The first trick is to start with a delicious and juicy roast chicken if possible. Check out my recipe for the juiciest lemon garlic chicken here. Starting with pan roasted cut chicken breast is fine too, but will limit how much flavor you can infuse and won’t produce a delicious broth which is essential to this dish!
This dish is nothing short of flavor with plenty of sautéed onion, fennel, shallots, and of course, garlic to go around! The fennel is a great substitute for the celery with its special licorice flavor, and the shallots add some extra warmth to this comfort dish. In making this you will be chopping plenty of yummy veggies, and I highly recommend having a good mandolin around! I love the one I have except for one flaw- the piece to hold the food with to protect your hand is plastic and when you get close enough to the blade, you can end up with sliced plastic. YUCK! So if you are in the market for a mandolin make sure the piece to hold the produce is stainless steel or something more durable. If you know of a good one, please leave a comment below and enlighten us! I hope to replace mine soon since I am often slicing away!
For my crust, I use puff pastry, and I only put it on top of the pie to keep this dish less carby and more focused on the deliciousness of the savory vegetables and tender chicken. You could choose to place pie crust on the bottom as well if you desire. Beware, the pillsbury pie crust has LARD. My favorite is the Trader Joe’s puff pastry for this dish.
Method:
Sautee the chopped onion, fennel, and scallions in 1 tbsp of butter over med-high heat. Season the onions with about 1 tsp of salt. When the onions have softened, add the minced garlic. The garlic will brown pretty quickly so be ready to add the flour soon thereafter. Once the garlic turns golden, add the second tablespoon of butter and slowly pour the flour over, mixing into the melted butter. Quickly pour 2 cups of broth over the flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and slowly pour in the milk. Simmer on low for about 1-2 minutes. The mixture will become a thick gravy sauce. You can thin it out a little with more broth if necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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In a separate saucepan, sauté the sliced garlic in the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped veggies and season with the rosemary, salt and pepper. Stir for about 1 minute until the veggies are all well coated with the garlic oil and seasoning. Add the vegetable mixture into the gravy sauce and stir until well coated. Simmer for 1 minute. Add the chopped chicken and pour into your pie pan. Cover with 1 sheet of puff pastry, rolling the edges in over the edge of your pie pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden. Serve with toasted bread and enjoy!
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 1/2 cup of fennel, diced or sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced onion
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 clove of garlic, sliced
- 1 small shallot, sliced
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 2-3 medium gold potatoes, diced
- 1/3 c asparagus stalks chopped
- 1/2 cup sliced baby bella mushrooms
- 1/3 cup of peas
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 2/3- 1 c of milk
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp of rosemary, chives, parsley, thyme or whatever your favorite earthy herb may be
- 1/2 cup of flour
- 2 cups of broth- reserve from cooking your chicken pieces or this boxed brand from Saffron Road found at Whole Foods is amazing! Tasty and Halal !
- 1 cup of chopped chicken ( I use the breast and the juicy tender dark meat you can pick out from underneath the chicken.)
- 1 sheet of puff pastry (I use the one from Trader Joes)
- Sautee the chopped onion, fennel, and scallions in 1 tbsp of butter over med-high heat. Season the onions with about 1 tsp of salt. When the onions have softened, add the minced garlic. The garlic will brown pretty quickly so be ready to add the flour soon thereafter.
- Once the garlic turns golden, add the second tablespoon of butter and slowly pour the flour over, mixing into the melted butter. Quickly pour 2 cups of broth over the flour mixture and whisk until smooth.
- Add 1/2 tsp of salt and slowly pour in the milk. Simmer on low for about 1-2 minutes. The mixture will become a thick gravy sauce. You can thin it out a little with more broth if necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- In a separate saucepan, sauté the sliced garlic in the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped veggies and season with the rosemary, salt and pepper. Stir for about 1 minute until the veggies are all well coated with the garlic oil and seasoning.
- Add the vegetable mixture into the gravy sauce and stir until well coated. Simmer for 1 minute. Add the chopped chicken and pour into your pie pan. Cover with 1 sheet of puff pastry, rolling the edges in over the edge of your pie pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the crust is golden.
- This recipe yields enough filling for 2 pies in which you would need another pie pan and sheet of puff pastry. Instead I stored the extra pie filling which we ate the next day with cooked bulgur (recipe coming soon) or bread.
