I've always wanted to make one of these but I usually forgot the inspiration soon after it hit me. Don't ever bother with that Marie Calendar's crap again, is my suggestion.
This is the recipe for the filling only. You'll need to make or buy the crust for it. HERE is a great recipe for one 9" pie; you'll need to double it for the crust.
Prep time 45 mins to 1 hour
Cooking time N/A
Est. servings 6 - 8
Today's Specimen
Ingredients
- Filling
- 1 lb. chicken breast meat
- ½ cup sweet onion, diced medium
- 1 cup butternut squash, diced medium
- 1½ cup crimini mushrooms, diced medium
- ¼ cup chives, diced small
- Sauce
- 1 (14 oz.) can low-sodium chicken broth
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter
- ½ tbsp. and 2 tsp. olive oil
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅔ milk, 2%
- ¼ tsp. rubbed sage
- ⅛ tsp. celery seed
- ⅛ tsp. black pepper
- ⅛ salt
- 1 dash (about 1/16 tsp.) nutmeg
Directions
- Filling
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake the squash whole for forty-five minutes or until an inserted fork pulls out easily and clear. Halve and peel and dice medium, then set aside.
- While the squash is baking steam the chicken breasts whole (it will require about one large to three small ones) for twenty minutes, then dice medium and set aside.
- In a small saute pan on medium heat in ½ tbsp. oil saute the mushrooms and chives for five minutes, stirring frequently, and set aside with the other meat and vegetable ingredients in a medium mixing bowl or similar container, making sure to mix it all up a bit.
- Sauce
- In a small sauce pot (minimum 5 cup capacity) on low heat slowly melt the unsalted butter.
- When the butter is melted completely raise the temperature up to medium and add the onion and cook for fifteen minutes or until they are translucent and are just starting to caramelize. Stir two or three times while cooking to avoid scalding the butter and cooking the onion unevenly.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and add the 2 tsp. olive oil and spices and whisk the flour in a half at a time. Once the flour is mixed in well cook the resulting roux for five minutes, stirring frequently — you want it to have a slight sheen to it.
- Whisk half of the milk in and mix thoroughly in until there's no lumps or clumps of roux, let sit for a couple minutes, then whisk in the remaining half while stirring frequently. Let the mixture cook for five minutes, stirring a couple times to make sure everything is mixed well and is starting to thicken.
- Add half a can of the low-sodium chicken broth, stirring it in like the previous steps, let sit for a couple minutes, then stir in the remaining half. Mix well and let the mixture cook for about fifteen minutes. Lower the temperature to medium-low if necessary to prevent the sauce from coming to a complete boil — a simmer is what you want.
- Finally
- When you're ready to bake the pie, which is usually done at 450°F to 475°F for about half an hour, fill the pie tin — covered in the bottom layer of dough of course! — first with the meat and vegetable mixture and then with the sauce. You definitely want the sauce to be warm if you refrigerated it because otherwise it won't fill in well and most of it will just lay on top of the meat like a sated lion.
Next Time in the Lab
What a hit this turned out to be! I don't think I've ever had such a filling, ingredient-packed pot pie and I'm pretty sure I won't eat a frozen one again unless I'm standing in line for an emergency food drop or that's all there is to eat in a dinghy I'm stuck adrift out at sea in. A little more squash would be nice, though.
- Increase the butternut squash to 1½ cups.
- Increase the chives to ⅓ cup.
