Frozen pot pies filled our family freezer growing up as a child. Pot pies became a convenient meal for my brothers and me that we could make by ourselves in the oven or toaster oven. I cannot recall making this savory comfort food from scratch as a kid in our household and recently seized an opportunity to make a pot pie last week with a leftover rotisserie chicken and a box of puff pastry not used for another recipe. These shortcuts hardly make this attempt made from “scratch”, but the flaky puff pastry triumphs over the frozen pot pies from childhood.
The dimensions of the frozen puff pastry I used fit a 10×15″ cast-iron enamel casserole for the pie, but you can cut the pastry sheets to fit any size baking pan or casserole in your kitchen. I added mushrooms to the other mixed vegetables to impart an earthy flavor. When I am out of homemade chicken broth or stock, I turn to Better than Bullion Roasted Chicken Base to reconstitute a flavorful broth (a jar of Better than Bullion keeps longer than a 1 quart container of broth and costs less over time). An egg wash applied to the pastry before baking creates a crisp crust.
Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry
Ingredients: 
- 1 pound of frozen puff pastry
- 1⁄4 cup butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 8 ounce white button mushrooms, stalks removed and sliced
- 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1⁄4 teaspoon sage
- 1⁄4 teaspoon marjoram
- 1⁄4 teaspoon thyme
- 1⁄4 teaspoon oregano
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 3⁄4 cup half and half
- 1 skinned and boned rotisserie chicken, broken into bite size pieces
- 12 ounce package of frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, green peas and green beans)
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 F on convection (400 F if not using convection)
- Follow package instructions for thawing pastry.
- Heat butter in large Dutch oven or saucepan.
- Saute onion in butter until translucent. Add garlic and mushrooms. Stir over medium heat until mushroom shrink from evaporation of released moisture.
- Add and mix flour and seasonings until smooth.
- Gradually stir in broth and milk. Cook and stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture forms a thick sauce.
- Stir in chicken and frozen vegetables.
- Spoon chicken and vegetable mixture into casserole.
- Unfold puff pastry and cut sheets to fit over the surface of the chicken and vegetable mixture in the casserole. Create slits in the pastry surface to release steam while the pie bakes.
- Brush pastry surface with egg wash.
- Bake on middle rack in oven for 35 minutes or until filling is bubbling and crust is puffed and golden brown.
- Remove casserole from oven and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Place at the Table 