Beginner
Nothing is more comforting than a chicken pot pie steaming hot from the oven, especially on a raw evening.
This isn't so much a recipe as it is a blog post to get you thinking about what you can do with leftovers to create a completely different dish in no time.
My first cheat to an easy pot pie is using leftover homemade chicken soup. I thicken the broth with a little cornstarch and then put it in the bottom of a baking dish. I top it with a sheet of premade puff pastry, or as you can see below, drop biscuits. Bake it until the puff pastry puffs and the contents bubble, and within an hour, you have a homemade chicken pot pie.
Another way to make a delicious pot pie is using a rotisserie chicken, or what's left from your chicken, mixed with either leftover veggies or sauteed vegetables of your choice. I've even used frozen mixed veggies in a pinch. Add leftover or store-bought gravy, top with either the puff pastry or biscuit crust, and again within an hour, you have dinner on the table.
If you don't have leftover gravy, you can make a simple pan gravy using the following method:
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan
Add 2 tablespoons of flour
Cook together for 1-2 minutes. You can let it get slightly brown, giving your gravy a deeper color if you'd like.
Add chicken stock (or stock of your choice) until you get the consistency you want for your pie.
Season to taste.
Finally, you don't have to make just chicken pot pie. These cheats work well for a veggie pie (mushroom and spinach, or vegetable curry, anyone?) or other meat pie.
Perfect way to use up leftovers