HOMEMADE CHICKEN POT PIE (+Video)

• 1-2 sheets frozen puff pastry
• 2 large chicken breasts
• olive oil
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1/3 cup salted butter
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 small yellow onion (finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp garlic (minced)
• 2 cups frozen peas and carrots
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp water

1. Before you begin, make sure you take out the puff pastry and allow it to thaw at room temperature.

FOR THE CHICKEN:

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees

2. Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Drizzle chicken breasts with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Cook chicken for about 45 minutes.

3. Once your chicken is finished cooking, allow it to cool then cut it into bite size pieces. Set aside cooked chicken until you're ready to make the filling.

FOR THE CRUST:

1. Throw a little flour on the counter. Open up the puff pastry. It should be pliable and easy to work with at this point. Pinch the seams together so you have a nice, smooth pastry.

2. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough lightly to smooth the seams and give yourself just a bit more room to work with. You don’t want to roll it out too thin.

3. Place your ramekins or oven safe bowls upside down on the pastry.

4. With a sharp knife, cut around the edge of the bowl, leaving about a 1/2 inch or so overhang. You want to have enough extra pastry to hang over the sides of the bowl. Set aside until you're finished with filling.

FOR THE FILLING:

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter on medium heat. Add in flour, stirring until the consistency of peanut butter.

2. Slowly add in milk and keep stirring (it will be lumpy).

3. Then pour in chicken stock and add in onion and garlic. It helps at this point to use a whisk to break up any lumps.

4. You’ll need to turn the heat up to high to get the mixture to boiling. This process helps to thicken the mixture. If it gets too thick, just add in a bit more chicken stock.

5. Once thickened, turn heat down and add in frozen peas and carrots and cooked, cubed chicken.
6. Give it all a good stir then do a taste test and see if you need to add any more salt or pepper.

TO ASSEMBLE:

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

2. Fill all your bowls/ramekins with the filling (taking care not to overfill) and place them on a baking sheet.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and 1 tbsp. of water.

4. Dip your finger in some of the egg mixture and wipe it around the edge of your filled ramekins. Place pre-cut puff pastry circles on top of ramekins.

5. With a brush, lightly coat the puff pastry with egg wash.
6. Pop them in the oven and bake for about 18-22 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

This recipe makes enough for about 6 servings (depending on how large your bowls or ramekins are). You can use any oven safe bowl for this. In the past, I’ve used larger bowls. Just make sure, if you use larger bowls or ramekins, you have enough puff pastry to cover them all.
Also, if you have leftover filling, it can be frozen. Rotisserie chicken can be used in place of roasted chicken breasts.