| Level: | Intermediate |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small chunks
- 3/4 cup ice water, plus more if needed
- 1 (4 to 5 pound) free range whole chicken
- 3 carrots, cut in 2-inch pieces
- 3 celery stalks, cut in 2-inch pieces
- 1 onion, halved
- 1 head garlic, halved horizontally
- 2 turnips, halved
- Bouquet garni: 4 fresh thyme sprigs, 2 fresh rosemary sprigs, 1 bay leaf – all tied together with
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 carrots, cut in 1/2-inch circles
- 1 cup pearl onions, peeled, about 3/4 pound
- 1 cup fresh sweet peas, about 1 pound
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- Leaves from 8 fresh thyme sprigs
- Needles from 1 fresh rosemary sprig, chopped
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 egg mixed with 3 tablespoons of water, for egg wash
- Coarse salt
Instructions
- To make the pastry: Combine the flour and salt in a very large mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix with a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the ice water and work it in to bind the dough until it holds together without being too wet or sticky. Squeeze a small amount together, if it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Wrap the large ball of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate while preparing the rest of the recipe (feel free to make the dough the night before if you prefer.)
- To make the chicken broth: Put the chicken in a large stockpot and cover with 3 quarts of cool water. Add the vegetables and herbs and bring it up to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour; skimming frequently as the oil rises to the surface. What we’re doing here is not only cooking the chicken but also creating the base sauce for the pot pie. It’s the old trick of killing two birds with one stone — or one pot as the case may be. Remove the chicken to a platter to cool. When it’s cool enough to handle shred the chicken meat, discarding the skin and bones, and set aside. Using a colander, strain the chicken broth into another pot and discard the solids; you should have about 2 quarts when you’re done.
- To make the pot pie filling: Wipe out the stockpot and put it back on the stovetop over medium-low heat. Melt the butter and just as the foam subsides, add the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or whisk to prevent lumps. This is a roux, which will act as a thickener. Cook and stir the roux until it’s the color of a California blonde. Now, gradually pour in the reserved chicken broth, whisking the entire time to prevent lumps. Whisk and simmer for 10 minutes to cook out the starchy taste of the flour and thicken the broth; it should look like cream of chicken soup. Fold in the carrots, pearl onions, peas, garlic, rosemary, thyme, and lemon juice; stir to combine. Simmer for 10 minutes to soften the vegetables a bit; season the mixture with salt and pepper. Stir in the shredded chicken until incorporated, remove from the heat and cool to room temperature; it will get quite thick as it cools down.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator and set it out on the counter for 5 minutes to warm up a bit, making it easier to roll out.
- Sprinkle the counter and a rolling pin lightly with flour. Roll the dough out into a big 14 by 20-inch rectangle. Carefully transfer the dough to a large rectangular pizza stone or standard sheet pan, leaving about 1 foot of the pastry hanging off 1 end. Spoon the cooled chicken filling on the pastry that is on the pizza stone, leaving a border around the sides. Lightly beat the egg with 3 tablespoons of water to make an egg wash and brush it on the dough border. Fold the “free” dough over the filling like a blanket and crimp the ends with a fork to form a tight seal; it should look like a big pillow. Brush the top of the giant chicken pie with the remaining egg wash, sprinkle with the coarse salt, and cut tiny slashes in the top so steam can escape. Place the chicken pie in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until puffed and golden. Let the chicken pie rest for 10 minutes before moving it. Run a spatula underneath the pot pie to loosen it from the pizza stone. Scoop out the chicken pie with a large serving spoon.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 1002 |
| Total Fat | 68 g |
| Saturated Fat | 35 g |
| Carbohydrates | 63 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 7 g |
| Sugar | 5 g |
| Protein | 35 g |
| Cholesterol | 226 mg |
| Sodium | 1079 mg |
Reviews
DELICIOUS! I can’t make enough of it. From the 1st to the 20th time,it’s turn out perfect. And I never have leftovers. This recipe is a keeper.
I made it for dinner last night. My family loved it.
Def very good!! I also used a pre-bought frozen puff pastry, and tried to make it work (top and bottom in a 9 x 13 dish. No surprise I needed more puff pastry! Next time I’ll get two, b/c there was more than enough of the chicken and roux to fill the dish. Very nice flavor and chicken unbelievably tender. And it did come out a bit thin, so I’ll do the same as other suggested next time and thicken the roux.
This was an easy meal to make. A good chicken pot pie on a cold night is hard to beat. The only thing I did not like about this recipe was the dough had to much butter. Now, with that being said I my have miss understood the recipe. I used land O lakes real butter and the pie came out great. The next time I make this I am going to cut back on the butter and I think it will be really good.
Instead of making the whole chicken broth, I used leftover chicken and used powder chicken broth instead (I know its bad! I used a square dish and put the filling in and topped it with puff pastry. It was pretty easy and looks great, its just about to come out of the oven!
Great pot pie. We made it with boxed chicken stock and puffed pastry and it makes the recipe very easy. We have also tried it with just diced onions, peas and mushrooms and it was wonderful. Once you have the basic process down, you can change it up to make several different variations. I also, didn’t use as much chicken stock as listed and added some white wine and a bit of butter. And it makes a lot so I usually freeze half of it. Its great to freeze the filling in individual portions so I can quickly make small “chicken pot pie pockets” for a fast dinner or easy lunch.
Mine came out to thin and I added a litte more roux and it thickened up nice. Other than that this is the best chicken recipe ever!!!!
Thought I was doing something wrong so I made this recipe a couple of times but with the same result. The crust is delicious (flaky and buttery) but the filling never thickened fully. Hopefully someone has a reasonable solution.
Too much work based on the outcome!!!
Too much work based on the outcome!!!
I wanted to make a pot pie like my Great Grandmothers’. And just could not find it anywhere. So as usual I turned to FoodTV network to find one that everyone loved. This one is so close to what she made as far as ingredients. I made shortcuts. I used ready made pie crust. Roasted my veggies while preparing the sauce (i had boiled a chicken and boned it the day before and I use basically the same method as here). I used green beans instead of peas (hubby hates them) and put the carrots in the oven about 20 min before i added fresh garlic onions and green beans. I splashed them with olive oil and put the thyme and rosemary in to roast with them. Mixed it all up into the sauce and poured it into a casserole dish that I had partially cooked a pie crust in. I dropped a few raw eggs into the dish and covered it with another crust and baked it (the eggs were something my GGm always did and we loved seeing who would get one!) It was a smash hit! Wow my Mom thinks it is even better than my GGm’s. I will add potatoes to the roasted veggies next time. Thanks again Tyler for another great one!
This is the first chicken pot pie I have ever made and it will be the ONLY recipe I EVER use!! I did cook it in a pan and just used the crust for the top, it turned out fabulous! My husband has been bugging me for quite some time to make him some pot pie. I was intimidated by whole process but it really ended up being very easy. I spaced the steps out over two days making the crust and the broth the day before. The morning of I made the filling then let it cool to room temp for several hours. All I had to do is assemble the pie about an hour or so before dinner! Even the crust turned out wonderful and flaky…not too bad for a first time pot pie. I’m sure it will become one of my family’s favorites!! Way to go Tyler for another great comfort food recipe!