Sorry Stoffers

My beautiful friend Jenn made a delicious pot pie on Friday night, and she inspired me to make my favorite version of this classic.  The fun thing about this recipe is you can add any root vegetables you like.  In my case, I enjoy including all of those strange turnip-looking-things in the produce section: rutabagas, turnips, parsnips.  Plus it's always fun to play stump the grocery checker :-) 

Chicken and root vegetable pot pie adapted from Epicurious

4 lbs chicken breats, skin removed

4-6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

3 potatoes, diced

2 turnips, peeled and diced

2 rutabagas, peeled and diced

2 parsnips, peeled and diced

handful spinach

1/2 stick butter

3 leeks, sliced

2 shallots, minced

2 tbs fresh thyme, minced

2 tbs flour

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup whipping cream

pie crust (I bought mine because I am afraid of pastry)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place chicken breasts in a large pot.  Add enough broth to cover breast.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook until chicken is just cooked through.  Remove chicken and reserve the broth.  Once chicken is cool enough to touch, cut into an even dice. Add the root vegetables to the reserved broth.  Simmer until vegetables are tender, about ten minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to a large casserole dish (or use two smaller ones).  Evenly distribute the spinach and chicken over the root vegetables.

Reserve 4 cups of the broth.  Melt butter in the same pot over medium heat.  Add shallots, leeks and thyme.  Saute until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add flour and stir 2 minutes.  Stir in wine and broth.  Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, be sure to stir constantly.  Add cream and boil until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour gravy over vegetable/chicken mixture.  Allow to cool before you place the pie crust.

Roll out the pie crust to ensure it is large enough to cover the entire casserole dish.  Trim any overhanging dough and seal around the edge.  Cut slits into the crust to allow the steam to escape.  Place pot pie in oven and bake until the crust is golden and the gravy is bubbling, about 50 minutes.  Let stand for 10 minutes before service.