Chicken Pot Pie

Is there any food more comforting than Chicken Pot Pie?  What do you think?  I would love to here your thoughts in the comment section below.  I love chicken pot pie.  The creaminess from the sauce; the crunch from the vegetables but most of all, the buttery flaky crust from the pasty topping.  I have made this recipe many times and owe the origin to Ina Garten.  Ina’s recipes are so good.  The one comment I have to say though, is that her recipes are very rich and high in calories.  My next objective is to work with her recipes and lighten them up for you.

I also find you can change up the traditional chicken pot pie by topping it with muffins as I did a couple of years back.  I have also made a Cajun version with a traditional pastry top.  Another fun twist I did with this Cajun recipe was to add andouille sausage.  The base of the main pot pie recipe is a roux.  So it is only natural that I made a Cajun version.  The creaminess of the sauce really makes the difference in the success of your pot pie.

The dish is really pretty easy to prepare.  It begins with a mirepoix, carrots, celery and onions softened in butter.  Once softened, flour is added.  It is cooked for 1 to 2 minutes to cook out the flour flavor.  Next, the chicken stock is added and this creates the creamy sauce.  The sauce really is done if you want to keep it a bit lighter.  Cream is added later and I do not believe you will notice a difference if it is left out.

The mirepoix and flour is built as the base of the sauce.

The dish is made easier by using frozen peas and frozen pearl onions.

The baked pastry cups.

The final Chicken Pot Pie plated.