Chicken Pot Pie
The creamiest, silkiest, most savory chicken and vegetable stew beneath a golden slab of buttery, crackly crust.
Ingredients
Chicken Stew Filling
- 1 cup carrots chopped into half moons
- 2 leeks *washed* and chopped
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms sliced
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 stalks celery chopped
- 2 lbs chicken breasts
- 1 cup dry white wine (I use Chardonnay)
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper freshly cracked
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 small bunch fresh sage
- 1 cup peas (can be frozen)
- 1 stick salted butter
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg (for egg washing the crust)
The Crust
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 ½ sticks cold butter (1 ¼ cups total), cubed
- kosher salt and black pepper, for topping
Instructions
- Start by preparing the crust. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a food processor. Pulse to thoroughly mix.
- Add cubed butter and pulse until the dough looks like sand, with some pea-sized bits.
- Next, drizzle in 1/2 cup ice water with the processor running. If the dough is too dry to come together, add more water only a teaspoon at a time.
- Press the dough together with your fingers into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, flatter into a disk and place the dough in the refrigerator to rest.
- For the filling, preheat your oven to 400 °F.
- Toss the chopped carrots, leeks*, and mushrooms in a tablespoon of olive oil and roast, 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, sauté the onion and celery in a large pot over medium heat in 2 tablespoons olive oil until softened, 3-5 minutes.
- To the pot, add the chicken breasts, white wine, salt, black pepper, tomato paste, and 8 cups water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Once the chicken is cooked, remove the chicken from the pot. Add the roasted carrots, leeks, and mushrooms into the broth.
- Pull the thyme and rosemary leaves from the sprigs, coarsely chop along with the sage, and add the chopped herbs to the broth. Bring the broth and vegetables back a simmer and cook, uncovered, until reduced by a few cups (about 40 minutes).
- Meanwhile, shred the chicken breasts. Once the broth has reduced, return the shredded chicken to the broth, and add the peas.
- In a separate sauce pan set over medium heat, melt the stick of butter. When the butter is fully melted, whisk in the flour until a smooth mixture is formed. Keep whisking, over medium heat, until the roux is golden in color, about 5 minutes.
- Whisk the roux into the large pot of filling, bringing to a simmer until thickened (about 10 minutes).
- When the filling has thickened, spoon it into a deep (at least 3 inches deep) 9”x13” baking dish.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the crust until it is 1/4 inch thick, then cover the filling in large pieces of crust. I like to tear the crust dough by hand and layer over the filling in imperfect patterns, overlapping in some places, for a rustic look. (You can see this in the video above!)Any excess dough can be pinched around the edges of the baking dish, like a pie crust.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg and lightly brush over the dough. Sprinkle the top of the dough with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. Cut a few slits in the surface to let steam escape.
- Bake until bubbly, about 45 minutes.
- Serve in bowls, for a cozy night!
Notes
*I wash leeks by swirling the chopped leeks in a bowl of water, allowing the sediment to settle to the bottom before skimming the leeks from the surface of the water.