Ingredients:
For the chicken and stock:
● 1 small to medium sized whole chicken
● 2 carrots
● 3 celery stalks
● 1 small onion
For the pie crust:
- 1-½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter,
- ¼ cup Earth Balance buttery spread, chilled
- 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
For the chicken pot pie filling:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled, halved and cut into thin half moons
- 3 celery stalks, small dice
- 1 large or 2 small red potatoes, small dice
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 oz. unsalted butter (½ stick)
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
- ¾ cup green peas, frozen or fresh
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cook the chicken
Combine the chicken, carrot, celery, onion and salt into a large stock pot. Add cold water until just covered and bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 1-2 hrs.
While the chicken starts cooking
Make pie dough
Grate butter and Earth Balance using a cheese grater or the grater attachment on your food processor
Mix salt and flour in a bowl and add your shredded butters.
Rub this mixture between your hands and incorporate some of the butter into the flour, but leave some small pea size pieces of butter in the flour.
Once that is evenly incorporated, pour in your ice water. You want to mix just until combined. Do not overmix. It may still look kind of crumbly.
Let it rest for at least an hour in the fridge and it will come together. Use your hands to mold into a ball, then flatten the ball into a disk.
Sprinkle with a little flour, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days, before rolling.
*Tips: The key to a tender crust is how you incorporate the fats and not overmixing. Pie dough can be made in bigger batches, portioned and frozen for later use.
Shred the chicken
After 1-2 hours, carefully remove the chicken from the pot and let cool for 15-20 minutes. Strain out vegetables and set aside.
When the chicken has cooled enough to touch, pull off and discard the skin. Take your time to thoroughly remove all the meat from the chicken, being careful not to leave any bones in the meat. Using a fork or your hands; shred the chicken.
Set aside 2-½ cups of the stock for this recipe.
*Tip: Refrigerate any remaining stock for up to a week or portion and freeze to make soup or cook rice later.
Preheat oven to 400°F. You will turn the oven temp down when you put in the pot pie.
Prepare the crust
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a little less than a quarter-inch thick.
Lay the dough carefully into the pie pan. There will be crust hanging over the edges of the pan. Put in the fridge while you make the filling.
*Tip: If you fold the dough in half and in half again, once it has reached the desired thickness, to make it easy to transfer into the pan.
Prepare the filling
In a large skillet, melt butter on medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery, and cook until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
Make a roux in a separate pan.
4 oz. of butter until it is completely melted and then slowly sprinkle in the flour, while whisking. Do not stop whisking and do not dump all of the flour in at the same time.
Take your time and make sure you don’t allow lumps to form. Once that mixture forms a thick paste, it is ready to go into the chicken stock.
Whisk the roux into the chicken stock; whisking the whole time. Lower the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring often until thickened and creamy.
Add the shredded chicken meat, thyme, rosemary, potatoes, peas, salt and pepper and stir well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Pour filling into the pie shell gently fold the edges up and around the edge, around the filling.
Bake
Line a baking sheet with foil; place the pie on the baking sheet.
Turn heat down to Bake at 375°F for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Chef Mary Jayne Wilson| Thoughtful Bakers