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Chicken Pot Pie

Source of Recipe

John Lenoch - Librarian


List of Ingredients

5 Tbsp butter, divided
1 1/4 c chopped onion
1 1/4 c chopped carrots
1 1/4 c chopped celery
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
2 c chicken stock
1/2 c flour
1/4 c half-and-half
1/2 c peas, fresh or frozen
Salt and ground white pepper
Frozen, pre-rolled, ready-to-use puff pastry


Recipe

Melt 1 Tbsp butter in heavy saucepan; add and cook onions, carrots and celery over medium heat about 3 minutes. Add thyme, rosemary and bay leaf; cook until vegetable are just tender. Add chicken; cook a few minutes until chicken turns white. Add stock, bring to a simmer and continue to cook a few more minutes while you make the roux. To make the roux, melt remaining 4 Tbsp of butter in small saucepan. Stir in flour until well blended. Cook over low heat, stirring often, for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside. Strain chicken/vegetable mixture through a colander set over a bowl. Return liquid to the pot and set solids aside. After returning liquid to a simmer, whisk in roux until sauce is thickened and smooth. Simmer 3-5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the half-and-half (can use the pan the roux was in). Stir half-in-half and peas into simmering liquid, then stir in the chicken/vegetable mixture (with bay leaf discarded). Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Set filling aside while you thaw puff pastry for baking. (Or, if you are not going to bake the pie immediately, refrigerate the filling until ready to use.) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Carefully thaw puff pastry according to package instructions. Roll and cut dough to fit the tops of four oven-proof dishes or one pie pan. Divide filling into dishes or pan. Top filling with dough and make two small slashes with sharp knife in top of pastry. Bake 40-45 minutes, until pastry is puffed high and golden brown. Serve immediately. (Note: and alternative to above baking method is to keep filling hot while you cut and bake crusts on a greased baking sheet until puffed. This will result in crusts with extra height. No venting slashes are required this way. Then pour heated filling into dishes or pan, place puffed crust on top and serve immediately.)
VARIATIONS: Leftover cooked chicken or turkey may be substituted for the raw chicken breast. If you do this, skip Step 2 and add meat with the peas. You may also substitute other seasonal vegetables or herbs for the ones used in this recipe.