Skillet Chicken Pot Pie
Few things are as simultaneously comforting and festive as chicken pot pie. This warming crowd-pleaser is just the ticket on cold, dark nights, and it looks much harder to make than it is. High-quality store-bought pie crust is an excellent short cut here, and using leftover rotisserie chicken rather than searing off your own will get dinner on the table even faster.
Yield: All recipes serve 2 people
Chef Notes: Don’t be afraid to de-center the chicken in chicken pot pie! This dish is a perfect way to use up leftover veggies from the crisper drawer or freezer. Feel free to sauté diced sweet potatoes or mushrooms along with the mirepoix, or toss in a few handfuls of chopped greens (spinach or kale, fresh or frozen) with the frozen peas.
Components
Pastry Dough
Filling
Mise
Make Pastry Dough Place flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cold butter in a food processor, pulsing until dough forms small pebbles. Mix together ice water and apple cider vinegar. Continue to pulse food processor while streaming cider-water mixture into dough a little bit at a time, until dough has just come together. Form dough into a ball and knead 5-7 times on a lightly floured surface by pushing the heel of your hand into the dough. Form into a ball again, press into a large disc, and roll out into an 11-inch round. Transfer to fridge to chill while making filling.
Make Filling Heat 2T oil in a ten-inch cast iron skillet, then sear chicken until golden and opaque, with only a hint of pink remaining, about TK minutes. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside. Add 2T butter to skillet and saute diced carrot, celery, and onion until slightly softened, about 8 minutes. Return chicken to skillet.
Over medium heat, sprinkle 3T flour over the entire surface of the pan. Stir until the flour is light brown and toasted. Add ½ c milk to skillet, stirring until milk is absorbed, then continue adding milk in batches while stirring. The mixture will thicken to the consistency of thin oatmeal. If it thickens too quickly, add up to another ½ c milk to loosen. Add frozen peas and remove from heat.
Assemble Pie Prick pastry round with fork to create air vents, then lay over top of skillet. Tuck any overhanging edges inside, then crimp perimeter into a decorative pattern with the back of a fork. Whisk together egg yolk and 1T water, and brush egg wash over top of pie.
Finish
Slice into wedges and serve.
Leftovers can be reheated in a 350˚F oven.