Ramekin Chicken Pot Pies

What did you have planned for dinner this week? Scratch it.  Make this instead.  These little potpies were absolutely and completely perfect.

Making potpie can go one of two ways.  The dish can be savory, oozing with warmth and the perfect dish for a chilly night.  Or it can be bland and awful.  This particular recipe falls into the first category.  And as a bonus, it uses up tons of ingredients you probably already have.

This makes 6 individual ramekins.  We each ate one for dinner, saved another 2 for leftover night, and froze the final 2 to enjoy whenever we’re short on time.  The hubby’s only complaint is that the individual size is too small.  He wants more!  We’re planning on a bigger version post-Turkey Day.

Ramekin Chicken Potpies

Adapted from Love and Olive Oil

• 2T butter
• 2 T flour
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 3 carrots, diced
• 2 C potatoes, diced (about ½ inch pieces)
• 2 C chicken stock
• 1 C half and half
• 2 C shredded, cooked chicken
• 1 C frozen peas
• 1 recipe of your favorite savory pie crust (or a tube of Pillsbury)
• salt
• pepper

Cook the potatoes in boiling, salted water until tender, 10 minutes.  Or, if you’re like me, grab a bunch of leftover roasted potatoes.

Preheat the oven to 400.

Melt 2 T butter in a large sauté pan.

Stir in the onions, celery and carrots.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes.

Stir in 2 T flour, cook for 3 minutes.

Add the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil.  Let simmer, uncovered, until the sauce starts to reduce and thicken a little (note—you are not trying to reduce this by ½ or anything.  You’ll need this saucy, goopiness when you bake the potpies).

Add the half and half, and simmer for 5 more minutes.

Taste again for salt and pepper.
Stir in the peas, potatoes and chicken.

Place equal amounts of filling in 6 ramekins.

Cut circles of dough using biscuit cutters, and place atop the prepared ramekins.

Cut a slit in each crust.

Bake on a rimmed half-sheet pan (to catch any spillage) for 20 minutes, until the filling is bubbling hot.

These will be steamy right out of the oven, so beware as you dig in.  Enjoy.