One of the movie-themed dinners my daughter and I created was this cozy, comforting meal inspired by Waitress, our favorite musical. This chicken pot pie marries creamy, garlicky bechamel with shredded roasted chicken, lots of veggies, and a flaky puff pastry top. Eat an edible and enjoy the process of making a beautiful meal.
We use Tara’s Blitz Puff Pastry for the top of the pie. This is a “speed round” version of the classic laminated dough; it’s super versatile, so we like to make extra to keep in the freezer that we can pull out and use for things like fruit turnovers, palmiers, and so much more. Store-bought, frozen puff pastry sheets will also work just fine!
Makes
6 servingsIngredients
For the filling
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium sweet onion diced
- 3 carrots peeled and small diced
- 3 russet potatoes peeled and small diced
- 3 whole cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
- 3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves only; plus additional sprigs for garnish
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 2 ½ cups whole milk
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 8 ounces corn kernels
- 8 ounces fresh green peas
- 1 whole roasted chicken skin off; broken down and shredded (about 3 cups of shredded chicken)
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 whole egg beaten with fork, for egg washing top of pie
For the puff pastry
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 cups unsalted butter cold
- 1 cup plus 4–6 tablespoons cold water
Instructions
For the filling
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- In a medium pot, melt butter on medium-low heat. Add onions, carrots, potatoes, garlic, Old Bay seasoning, and thyme, and cook until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
- Add the flour, stir to coat vegetables, and cook about 2 minutes. Add white wine first, followed by milk and chicken stock. Decrease heat to low, stirring often, until mixture is thick and creamy.
- Add corn and peas, followed by shredded chicken and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour into your dish of choice; I prefer a large Dutch oven, but these work well as individuals when portioned into medium-sized ramekins. Fill to 3/4 of dish.
- Allow to cool slightly while rolling and cutting your puff pastry top.
For the puff pastry
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
- Use a cheese grater (the side with the largest holes) to grate your butter over the flour mixture. Toss the butter with the flour until butter is completely coated. Drizzle water, 1/3 cup at a time, over the butter-flour mixture, and combine. Add water until the dough starts to clump together. Your dough will be crumbly, and you should still see bits of butter.
- Gently knead the dough until you can form a loose square, about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill for two hours.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll chilled dough into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Fold the dough in thirds, like a letter, and rotate 90 degrees. This is called a turn. Repeat this process until you have done 3 total turns.
- Fold into thirds once more, then wrap in plastic and chill for at least 4 hours; at this point you can also freeze your dough. (If using frozen dough for pot pie, pull your dough from the freezer into the fridge the night before you plan on using it.)
- Pull your puff pastry from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll out your dough to 1/4 inch thick. (If you’re using store-bought sheets, there’s no need to roll the dough out any further.)
- The beauty of pies is that they can be finished in a multitude of ways. You can use the sheet as a whole, cut to size, and place it over the top of your dish (quick and easy), but I like to go all out and cut different shapes and patterns to make the top more decorative. Get creative—the world is your pot pie!
- Once you’ve cut out your puff pastry top, place it over the top of your dish with prepared filling.
- Use a pastry brush to evenly brush the egg wash over the top of the puff pastry. Place pie on a baking sheet and bake until crust is deep golden brown, about 45 minutes. Garnish with sprigs of thyme and enjoy immediately.
