“I only had one bite but it was amazing.” – Austin, age 9
These mini pot pies were a hit with my age 9-12 year old kids cooking class I teach each week. I also teach a teen class. The pot pies can be adapted to throw in many different veggies, and they might be a good addition to the lunch box. Keeping them open-faced means they are less stodgy, with more protein and veggie filling to focus on, instead of excessive pastry. Enjoy!
Mini Open-Faced Chicken Pot Pies: (Yield: 24 muffin cup-sized pies – you may have leftover filling and pastry for a large standard pie plate-sized pot pie also)
½ cup to 1 cup pure olive oil
3 medium yellow potatoes, finely diced
2 cups parsley, finely chopped
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, finely diced
2 Pemberton carrots, finely diced
1 large red pepper, finely diced
3 cups brown mushrooms finely diced (you could try other varieties)
2 lbs chicken thighs (boneless and skinless) chopped into small pieces about 1 cm in diameter
2 tbs butter
2 tbs pure olive oil
3 cups no-salt chicken broth
2 tbs spelt flour
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
Pastry:
1 box Tenderflake lard
5 cups spelt flour
1 egg
1 tbs white vinegar
2 tsp salt
Water
Method:
Sauté veggies. Heat ½ cup pure olive oil in large pot and sauté all veggies, order not important but all veggies need lots of time to sauté. When well caramelised, add 3 cups of chicken broth and spelt flour.
In separate pan, sauté chicken pieces in 2 tbs butter and 2 tbs pure olive oil, until cooked through. Add 1 tsp pepper. When cooked thoroughly, add chicken to finished veggie mixture.
Make pastry:
Measure flour and salt into large bowl. Add lard. Mix until incorporated. Add one beaten egg in a liquid measuring cup with 1 tbs vinegar and fill the rest to the one-cup mark with water. Mix together. Roll out. Cut into circles about 5 cms wide. Place into muffin cups and press down snugly to form a cup.
Fill cups with veggie and chicken mix.
Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes.
Cool and eat. Enjoy!!
