Chicken Pot Pie

(crust recipe included) (makes 4-6 single servings in a typical pie dish, but can be split between 2 round disposable aluminum baking tins if you want to get more out of it)

Ingredients

1/2 C chopped onion (I just use one whole smallish onion)

6 TBS margarine

1/2 C flour

1 tsp salt

3 C chicken broth

3 C cubed chicken

10 oz package frozen peas + carrots, cooked and drained (I’ve put them in frozen and it was fine, and have also used leftover veggies)

optional: leftover potatoes, corn, freshly chopped celery, etc (just keep the amount of filler somewhere around 3-4 C so you don’t have an overflow of chicken lava)

Method

Preheat the oven to 400°F.  If you’re concerned about the aforementioned overflowing chicken lava, place a cookie sheet or baking stone on a rack below the middle, where your pie will be.

Food prep: Chop your onion.  Cube your leftover or precooked chicken.  Assemble the veggies you plan to use – leftover, frozen, or fresh. 

Cook the onion in the margarine until tender, not brown.  Blend in flour and salt.  Add all the broth.  Cook, stirring until it’s thick and bubbly.

Add the remaining ingredients.  Heat through until it’s bubbly again.  Cool (while the filling cools, make the pie crust – and here you go).

Mom’s Pie Crust (1st amount written is for an 8-9″ 2-crust pie; amount in brackets is for the top and bottom of a 12″ pie)

Ingredients

2 C [3 C] all-purpose flour

1 tsp [ 1 1/2 tsp] salt

2/3 C + 2 TBS [1 C + 3 TBS] shortening

6 TBS [9 TBS] cold water

Method

Measure the flour and salt into a bowl and stir together.  Cut in shortening thoroughly with a pastry cutter.  Add water – 4 TBS [6-7 TBS] at first, then one at a time until the dough can be gathered into a ball.  Divide it in half. 

Roll each section between two pieces of LIGHTLY floured waxed or parchment paper.  Peel off the top paper of one.  Gently flip the bottom crust into the pie plate.

Remove the remaining piece of waxed/parchment paper.  Trim the edges all the way around, about 1/2″ from the pie plate. 

Chicken Pot Pie method continued

Pour the filling into the pie dish, and cover it with the second half of the pie crust.  Do this by again removing one piece of parchment paper, and flipping the pastry over onto the pie.  Gently remove the other piece of paper, and trim the pastry so that there’s about 1/2″ hanging over the edge.

You may eat the extra pie crust at will.  Or share it, if you’re a better person than I.

Gently pinch the edges of the top and bottom crusts together, and roll them under, securing them to the pie plate with a gentle downward push.  Create a wavy edge by pinching the dough with your thumb and first finger on one hand, and pushing between them lightly with the first finger on your other hand.

Cut a few slits in the top of the pie crust.  For a little decoration, roll out the extra dough, and use a sharp knife to cut out triangles.  Lay these on top of the pie in any design you like.

Bake the pie at 400°F for 45 minutes. 

Result

The crust should be slightly brown at the edges and the filling should be bubbling over.

Note

I made this once in a cast iron skillet, just cuz I gotta… at least once.  I had TONS of filling and didn’t think it would fit in a regular pie dish.  I was right.  To save time, I adjusted the pie crust measurements to suit my large skillet, and only put a crust on the top.  It tasted just as good, and was faster. 

There was a lot of overflow onto the crust, but that’s because it wasn’t secured to a bottom layer.  If you’re crunched for time, this is an easy way to shave off a step or two.  One-dish chicken pot pie is not a bad deal!