Turkey Pot Pie

After you’ve come out of the tryptophan coma, what should you do with all those leftovers? For starters, you should make a dozen turkey sandwiches. But what about after you’ve you’ve eaten all the turkey sandwiches you can stomach and you still have leftover turkey?
Make a potpie.

turkey-pot-pie

Potpie, whether it be chicken, turkey or vegetable is one of my all time favorite meals. It’s comfort food all the way. I always make a potpie with our turkey leftovers. I look just as forward to the potpie as I do to Thanksgiving dinner. Sometimes we eat it right away but if we have a ton of food that needs to be eaten up, I’ll pop the potpie in the freezer to eat it in a few weeks. I love freezer friendly recipes on a busy night!

I’ve tried a lot of pot pie recipes and for a long time I was on a quest to find the perfect recipe. But not anymore; this is my go to recipe. It’s adapted from an old Martha Stewart chicken pot pie recipe. It’s not too heavy and is loaded with fresh vegetables. I use my own stock that I make with the turkey carcass but feel free to use canned chicken stock or whatever you have on hand. I also like to stir in a little bit of leftover gravy at the very end- gravy like butter makes everything better. (You can quote me on that!)

This is fancy enough to serve for a dinner party but just as perfect eaten out of a bowl, while watching t.v and sitting on the couch! If you’re short on time, or lazy, or just plain don’t want to make the pastry dough feel freeze to use store bought puff pastry. (I do it all the time!) It’s much easier and almost as delicious!

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Thanksgiving Leftovers: Turkey Pot Pie


Description

Heavy on the vegetables, this hearty pot pie is the perfect answer to using up Thanksgiving leftovers. It’s freezer friendly and a great make ahead meal.


Ingredients

For the Pastry Dough:

  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 10 tablespoons chilled butter
  • 3 tablespoons ice water
  • 1 egg yolk

For the Pot Pie Filling:

  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup diced red potatoes
  • 1 leek, washed and sliced
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 cup carrots, diced
  • 1 cup celery, diced
  • 1 cup button mushrooms, quartered
  • 5 tablespoons flour
  • 2 cups turkey stock
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 1/2 cups leftover turkey meat, shredded
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 1 tablespoon thyme
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • salt and pepper (to taste)
  • 1/2 cup leftover gravy (optional)

Instructions

For the Dough:

  1. Combine flour, salt and thyme leaves in food processor.
  2. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. With the food processor running, add ice water and egg yolk and process until the dough holds together.
  3. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, flatten into disc and chill for at least an hour but preferably overnight.(This part can be made up to a few days ahead.)

For the Pot Pie:

  1. Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
  2. Melt butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and cook, undisturbed, about 5 minutes until potatoes start to brown. Add leek, onion, carrots, celery and mushrooms. Cook 5 minutes. Add the flour, and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Stir in turkey stock and milk and bring to a simmer. Cook until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly about 3 minutes. Add turkey, frozen peas, thyme and lemon zest. Stir in leftover gravy if using. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Transfer pot pie mixture to a 9×13 or similar size casserole dish; set aside.
  4. Remove dough from the fridge and roll it 1/4-inch thick. Place dough over turkey mixture and tuck dough around the edges. Cut a few slits on top for steam to escape. Bake for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown.