Turkey (or Chicken) Pot Pie

Posted by Lori:

I hadn't ever made a pot pie before today and IF I have eaten one I don't remember it.  I do remember them being served at school growing up, but the thought of all the mixed veggies and cloudy liquid didn't appeal to me.  However, yesterday on Facebook someone wrote that they had just made homemade pot pie.  I thought that was neat because it's always great to hear families eating anything "homemade" nowadays.  But, today, I was needing to use some leftover turkey and began to search recipes.  I first looked for turkey tetrazzini then saw a pot pie.  The recipes sounded okay, but I didn't like some of the ingredients and didn't want a thick cloudy-type liquid.

I wasn't sure what my kids might think, but they all really liked it.  All four of them!  That's definitely a keeper when they all like it.  My husband liked it, too, but he's lost a lot of weight and pretty much sticks with his whole wheat natural peanut butter sandwiches and fruit.  I really liked it, too...even though I should be going the natural peanut butter route myself!

I did see one recipe that used cream of chicken soup instead of making a thickened sauce.  That sounded pretty good.  Here is what I came up with using a mixture of several recipes:

Pot Pie Filling:

(Note:  This mixture would make 2 regular sized pie pan pot pies, but instead I used mini pie pans and muffin tins.)

4 cups turkey or chicken, chopped

1 cup green beans, chopped (Mine were leftovers, so well seasoned.  Canned would work. I mashed them more than chopped them.)

1 cup carrots, chopped (Could use canned and chop them.  I used fresh and will tell what I did below by cooking them in broth.)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 teaspoon onion powder

Pepper, a few dashes or to your liking

In medium bowl, mix together turkey (or chicken), green beans, carrots (*see note below), soup, onion powder, and pepper. 

*To cook the carrots, I used the petite ones, chopped them, and cooked them in a can of chicken broth until tender and liquid was reduced to a few tablespoons.  I added the carrots and the 2 tablespoons of juice to the mixture.

Pie Crust: (Mom's recipe she's posted before, except doubled.)

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup shortening

9 or 10 tablespoons water

In large bowl, mix together flour and salt.  Cut in shortening with pastry blender or fork until mixture forms pea sized pieces.  Add 9 tablespoons water and stir with fork until mixture forms a ball.  Add the remaining tablespoon of water if too crumbly.

 

On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about 1/8" thick.  Since I was making mini pot pies, I turned the pan over and cut around the plate in a circle with a knife - adding 1/4 - 1/2" to make it bigger.  It's so much fun rolling out pie crusts and sugar cookies now because I got a new rolling pin for Christmas. My husband and kids got it for me at Williams Sonoma. I don't know how much it was, but I know it's worth it! It's made rolling out dough a breeze!

Place crusts in pans and press to sides. Trim any excess to the edge of the pan.

 

Put 1/2 cup of turkey/vegetable mixture into each crust (if using two regular pie plates, just put half of mixture in each one.)

Cut other rounds for top crust.  I placed the filled mini pie plate on top of the pie crust dough and cut around it....adding a 1/2" extra to the circle.  Place top crust over filling and seal edges together.  Make a decorative crust edge or use a fork to seal edges.

Brush crusts with egg wash made by whisking together 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water.  Make little cuts/slits in the top of the crust to release steam while cooking.  I made little cuts in a heart shape using a small knife.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes. Regular sized pies may take longer.  I baked the little pie plates on this cookie sheet since they were little.

Here are pictures of the muffin tin pot pies.  I'll spare the step by step since this is so long.  You can tell what I did by the pictures, but feel free to ask questions or make suggestions!!