Chicken Pot Pie

I love a nice sized piece of Chicken Pot Pie.  Tons of veggies and chicken covered in a creamy sauce and crammed into a nice, crispy pie crust makes a full meal in one dish.  Ever since I started out on my baking adventure, this has been on my list of things to make, but I kept trying other recipes and putting this one off.  I was feeling intimidated by chicken pot pie, wanting this recipe to turn out as great as my expectations.  I saw some pie crusts at the grocery a few weeks ago and grabbed them, thinking I might try a new dessert recipe.  Then it hit me, it was time for chicken pot pie.



I went with a recipe with a great mix of veggies and a delightful sounding sauce, changing the vegetables a bit and adding some cayenne pepper to the sauce.

I started off by seasoning the chicken and cooking it over medium heat in a large skillet.  I then removed it from the pan and diced it into small pieces so it would be bite sized in the pie.  I added the carrots, onion, celery, peas, and sweet potato to the skillet and covered the vegetables with water.  I heated to boiling and cooked the vegetables until they were soft, adding the chicken back in for the last few minute of cooking.  I drained the water and set the vegetables aside.

To make the beschamel sauce, I melted the butter over medium heat.  I whisked in the flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed, heating until the mixture bubbled.

I lowered the saucepan heat to medium.  Then, I dissolved the chicken bouillon in water, and slowly poured it into the sauce pan along with the milk and let the sauce cook until it thickened.

To put the pie together, I set up the first pie crust in the bottom of a pie dish.  I poured in the vegetables and chicken first, then added the sauce over it.  I ended up with a bit more sauce than I needed, so I filled up the pie crust as much as I could without it overflowing and set the rest aside.  Finally, I added the top layer of pie crust, cut off the excess with a knife, and gently pressed the sides together.  I added a couple little decorative hearts cut out of the extra dough, and cut some slits in the top to release steam.

I let the pie bake for about 30 minutes, until the top was a beautiful golden brown.

I let the pie cool for a few minutes before serving it so the sauce could thicken.  It was hard to wait it out, but I knew it would be worth it.

Now, this...this was a great dinner.  This pie was just LOADED with vegetables, because I stuffed as many as I could fit into the crust.  The sauce was awesome and the crust was flaky and delicious.  I brought a piece into work to share for a couple of coworkers and they raved about the bottom layer (apparently some varieties lack this, and I was both shocked and appalled to learn this fact!) and the sweet potato inside.  I was advised that some more sauce would have been a nice touch, but the sauce had to be cut back to make room for all the vegetables.  I was super pleased with my very first chicken pot pie and can't wait to try this one again.  I have a couple of ideas for next time, now that I've finally got a pot pie under my belt.  This recipe definitely met and exceeded my expectations!

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup chopped sweet potato
4 cups water
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 3/4 cup water
3/4 cup milk

Instructions:

Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Cook on medium heat in a large skillet with olive oil for about 7 min on each side until slightly browned.  Dice into cubes or shred and set aside.  Add carrots, onion, celery, peas, and sweet potato to a large saucepan or deep pot and cover with water. Heat to boil, then simmer for 30 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Stir in cooked chicken.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter.  Whisk in flour, salt, pepper, celery seed, and cayenne pepper, then cook over medium heat until bubbly.  Lower heat to medium-low, then dissolve chicken bouillon in water, then gradually add to saucepan with milk.  Simmer until sauce thickens.  Meanwhile, set bottom pie crust in a pie dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour chicken and vegetable mixture into pie crust, then pour sauce over it.  Finish with the top crust, sealing the edges gently.  Cut holes in the top layer to release steam.  Bake for 30 minutes, until crust is golden.  Cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.