Sweet Potato Chicken Pot Pie

Who can resist homemade chicken pot pie? A creamy gravy, chicken, and veggie combination topped with a buttery flakey crust is hard to pass up. This dish was made for my dad, who is the king of comfort food. However, I found that making it homemade is not fit for his patience…..or mine – imagine that! 

As I flipped through Bobbie Flay’s Throwdown cookbook based off his popular Food Network show, this recipe particularly caught my attention. I will admit most of the attraction was initially due to the sweet potato crust. Then as I read into the recipe further, my senses missed the Irish cuisine I experienced this summer on my mother daughter trip to Dublin. As most know, the Irish cook with an abundance of potatoes and many meals include some sort of meat pie. 

Feeling confident to accept my first challenge of cooking a completely homemade pot pie along with my Sous-Chef, and with my grocery list at hand, Stephen and I headed to the store to buy the ingredients. Little did we know, dinner wouldn’t come until many hours later…

When we returned from the store, Stephen and I barely had enough space on his tiny apartment kitchen counters to lay out our ingredients. As I started looking for basic cooking equipment, I realized I was in a kitchen that was organized my two guys and I immediately regretted my decision of not going back to my own kitchen to cook. After reluctantly finding the essentials, Stephen began to peel and chop and I started the pie crust.

The pie crust was coming along well until I realized a food processor was not considered an “essential” in a male dominated kitchen. So I turned to the next best thing…a blender. Unfortunately, the blender didn’t get me much of a puree. To make things worse, I completely forgot to add an egg wash to the crust before baking. It goes without saying that my topping didn’t turn out exactly how I imagined it would. Luckily, that didn’t matter because the filling was to die for. All of the flavors mixed perfectly and I loved the added smoky flavor from the Spanish paprika. 

Although my first attempt at a completely homemade chicken pot pie was time consuming and challenging in a tiny and foreign kitchen, I think overall it was a success and was a perfect addition to our first Friday date night in at Stephen’s cozy downtown KC apartment. And I was told it was even better as leftovers! :)

Ingredients:
Crust

3 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour 

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 cup (or 2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces, cold

2 eggs (one for egg wash)

½ cup whole milk

1 sweet potato, peeled, roasted, pureed

Filling
4 tablespoons (or 1/2 stick) butter

1 Spanish onion, peeled and diced

3 cloves of garlic, pressed

1/4 of all-purpose flour

4 cups whole milk, heated

12 ounces of cremini mushrooms, quartered and sautéed

1 turnip, peeled and diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

½ cup red pearl onions

1 cup frozen peas

1 roasted chicken, shredded

2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika

¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Crust

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees (F)
• To make crust, stir flour and salt together in a large bowl and cut in butter with a fork until mixture looks crumbly
• In a separate bowl stir together 1 egg, milk and sweet potato puree 
• Pour egg, milk and sweet potato puree mixture into large bowl of flour, salt, and butter and stir
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough just comes together
• Form dough into 4-6 rounds and flatten slightly (or 1 big round if you are using a casserole dish instead of individual bowls)
• Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for 1 hour

Filling

• To make filling, melt butter in a medium sauce pan, add chopped onion and cook until soft, 5 minutes
• Add garlic and cook for 1 minute
•  Add flour until deep golden brown
• Slowly whisk in the hot milk and cook until thickened
• Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally
• Sauté cremini mushrooms in a separate sauté pan
• After the mushrooms are cooked add them to the pot of onion and milk mixture along with your carrots, peas, onions, turnip and chicken. 
• Season with paprika, salt, and pepper then add in parsley
• When the veggies soften, transfer the filling to oven-safe individual bowls and top with your crust. Make sure you press the dough around the rim of the bowls to form a seal.
• Brush the tops with an egg wash and season with salt and pepper. Use a paring knife to make a small slit in the center of the dough.
• Place the bowls to a cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. (If you are using a casserole dish bake for 25-30 minutes)