Happy Pi Day! 3.14159…. The number used by mathematicians to calculate the circumference of a circle. In honor of Pi Day I am posting my recipe for Chicken Pot Pie. Chicken pot pie is not only great comfort food, but also a great way to use left over chicken (or turkey for turkey pot pie). In this recipe, I use a whole chicken that I’ve picked up already cooked at the grocery store, but you can use left over chicken just as well. The Pilsbury piecrust is dairy free, but I ALWAYS check the ingredients just in case they have changed. You can use your own homemade recipe if you prefer. I have one, but sometimes this is just quicker at the end of the day.
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1 (10oz) bag peas and carrots
3 cups southern style hash browns (the ones that are cubed)
zest of 1 lemon
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
32 oz chicken stock
1 whole chicken, meat cut up (or your left over meat)
1 pkg of Pilsbury piecrust
· Sauté onion and celery until tender.
· Add garlic, peas, and carrots.
· Cook for 5 minutes (stirring occasionally)
· Add hash browns, lemon, thyme, parsley, salt, pepper and stock.
· Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 min.
· Add chicken.
· Remove from heat and let cool.
· Preheat oven to 400°F.
· Place the bottom crust into the pie pan.
· Pour ½ of the cooled filling to crust.*
· Place the remaining crust on top.
· Fold edges under and crimp.
· Cut some steam holes in the top of the crust.
· Cover edges of crust with foil.
· Bake for 20 minutes.
· Move pie to the bottom rack for 10 minutes (it helps to brown the bottom crust).
· Remove and cool for 10 minutes.
*Place the remaining filling in a container or zip top bag and place in the freezer for a quick and easy dinner at a later date!