Roasted Vegetable Chicken Pot Pie

Yesterday was not the best day in the world.  It was one of those days that leaves you desperately craving something comforting.  Chicken Pot Pie is such a classic comfort food, and was my "therapy" of choice.  I usually use a quick recipe of a bag of mixed, frozen veggies, but yesterday I needed MORE... I needed to peel, chop, dice, and roast something.  Besides that, roasting brings out the sweetness of vegetables that no other method can and gives you a whole additional textural element that works lovely in this dish.  They get that little crusty edge of caramelization on the edges that is delectable.  This is also a great way for you to use up extra roasted chicken that you may have.

So all in all, this dish is chock-full of healthy roasted vegetables, lean roasted chicken, a creamy sauce, and a flaky puffy crust.  Mmmmm....

Click for Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
(for 4 generous servings)

• 2 roasted chicken breasts, chopped roughly
• 4 carrots, diced into equal sized coins
• 4 small red potatoes, cut into about 8 pieces
• a big handful of fresh green beans
• 6 fresh pearl onions, cut into halves
• frozen sweet corn 
• frozen sweet peas
• about 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt
• cracked black pepper
• garlic powder
• about 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1 tsp fresh dill, plus more for garnish
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 4 Tbsp flour
• 1 - 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2/3 cup half-and-half
• 1 Tbsp cooking sherry
• 1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed for about 30 minutes

 Step-by-step

Roasted Vegetables

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Get the vegetables roasting first.  Wash, trim, peel, chop, etc your veggies first. Drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder.  (The potatoes need a bit more salt than the other vegetable.)  Spread them out on  a baking sheet (or two) so that they are in a single layer and not touching each other if possible.  I separated the green beans out from the vegetables as it occurred to me that they would roast much more quickly than the others.  The green beans will only take about 15 minutes (shake them around halfway through).  I roasted the other vegetables for 35 minutes, shaking these halfway through as well.

Wash...

Trim, peel, chop....

Dress lightly with extra virgin olive oil.

Lining the pan with aluminum pan makes for easy clean up.

Spread into one layer.

On second thought, separate green beans.  They will cook much faster than the rest.

425 degrees oven - 15 minutes for the green beans; 35 minutes the other vegetables.

Sherry Cream Sauce

In a saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour to essentially make a roux.  Let these cook together for a couple of minutes until just a faint bit of color develops.  Add in the chicken stock and stir in until smooth.  Don't be frightened when it becomes a big blob.  HaHa!  Next, add in the half-and-half (or milk if you prefer).  Stir until smooth.  Cook over medium-low until it's all nice and thick and bubbly (about 5 minutes).  Season with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning to taste, then stir in the sherry.  Whisk until smooth again, then turn off the heat.  Add in the fresh dill and stir.

4 Tbsp melted butter.  4 Tbsp flour.

Make a light roux.  2 - 3 minutes.  Only a hint of color.

1 - 1 1/2 cup chicken stock.

whisk until smooth.

2/3 cup half-and-half.

Whisk until smooth.

kosher salt

cracked black pepper

poultry seasoning to taste.

1 Tbsp cooking sherry (optional)

1 tsp fresh chopped dill

The finished cream sauce.

Assembly

After the vegetables have roasted, let them cool for a couple of minutes while you rough chop the roasted chicken.  I like to have sizable chunks of chicken in my pot pies, as I don't want the chicken to break down too much when I stir it all together.  Add the chicken, frozen corn and peas, and roasted vegetables to the cream sauce.  Stir together gently to avoid breaking up the chicken.

chop the roasted chicken breasts quite large.

Add to cream sauce.

frozen sweet corn

frozen sweet peas

Roasted green beans

roasted potatoes, carrots, onions

Stir GENTLY!

Add the mixture into individual oven proof ramekins.  Sprinkle the partially thawed puff pastry with a little flour and roll it a bit to sort of erase the creases.  Cut the sheet into quarters.  Place each of the pieces on top of the filled ramekins, allowing the edges to drape gently over the sides.  Brush the tops of the pastry with melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt, cracked black pepper, and a little chopped fresh dill.  Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Thawed puff pastry.  Lightly floured.  Press seams together.  Cut into 4 pieces.

Drape over individual ramekins.

Brush with melted butter and season with salt, pepper, dill

Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F.

 

Prep Ahead... 

You could prepare this ahead of time for a hot dinner later.  Prepare recipe through the point of filling the ramekins.  Cover the filled ramekins with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator.  Later, pop them in the oven for about 20 minutes on 350 degrees, then turn up the heat to 425 degrees and top each with the pastry, salt, pepper, and dill.  Bake an additional 15 minutes with the pastry until the top is fluffy and golden brown.

This lovely pottery was made by Jaime Miller of A Little Pottery shop in Baton Rouge.  See her creations at...  http://www.alittlepotteryshop.com       If you order from her, please tell her that I sent you!!!  This particular piece is called 3 Bird Service. 

Yum!

Order the Menu Musings Cookbook!

Written Directions:

Roasted Vegetables

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Get the vegetables roasting first.  Wash, trim, peel, chop, etc your veggies first. Drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder.  (The potatoes need a bit more salt than the other vegetable.)  Spread them out on  a baking sheet (or two) so that they are in a single layer and not touching each other if possible.  I separated the green beans out from the vegetables as it occurred to me that they would roast much more quickly than the others.  The green beans will only take about 15 minutes (shake them around halfway through).  I roasted the other vegetables for 35 minutes, shaking these halfway through as well.

Sherry Cream Sauce

In a saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour to essentially make a roux.  Let these cook together for a couple of minutes until just a faint bit of color develops.  Add in the chicken stock and stir in until smooth.  Don't be frightened when it becomes a big blob.  HaHa!  Next, add in the half-and-half (or milk if you prefer).  Stir until smooth.  Cook over medium-low until it's all nice and thick and bubbly (about 5 minutes).  Season with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning to taste, then stir in the sherry.  Whisk until smooth again, then turn off the heat.  Add in the fresh dill and stir.

Assembly

After the vegetables have roasted, let them cool for a couple of minutes while you rough chop the roasted chicken.  I like to have sizable chunks of chicken in my pot pies, as I don't want the chicken to break down too much when I stir it all together.  Add the chicken, frozen corn and peas, and roasted vegetables to the cream sauce.  Stir together gently to avoid breaking up the chicken.

Add the mixture into individual oven proof ramekins.  Sprinkle the partially thawed puff pastry with a little flour and roll it a bit to sort of erase the creases.  Cut the sheet into quarters.  Place each of the pieces on top of the filled ramekins, allowing the edges to drape gently over the sides.  Brush the tops of the pastry with melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt, cracked black pepper, and a little chopped fresh dill.  Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Click here to Subscribe to MenuMusings.com so you won't miss a thing!