I hope you all had a lovely Halloween. Since this was me and Jeremy’s first Halloween as husband and wife, we were Frankenstein and the bride of Frankenstien, and am am sad to report that even with my hair I still didn’t even come close to Jeremy’s height (I’ll try for it again next year with Marge Simpson). But we had a wonderful night otherwise, full of sweets and good food, with these pot pies making the night particularly tasty. This was my first time making a savory pie, so I was really hoping my go-to crust recipe would transfer over well to a salty filling, and I was very relieved when my concerns were put to rest after the first flakey, gravy-filled bite.

For this recipe, I caramelized the onions in the same pan I later prepared the filling in, which gave the broth a wonderful French onion soup-type flavor, and pan fried the chicken in a bit of butter before dicing it up to incorporate into the filling later on. While whole roast chicken is my favorite poultry dish, chicken breasts pan fried in a tablespoon of butter is a very close second. The skin just crisps up so nice and then this crazy amazing smell starts coming from the whole pan and good Lord, it’s amazing.

I had some little carrots from the yard so I chopped them up and tossed them in there, too before pouring the mixture into some oven-safe bowls, sprinkling some shortbread crumbs over the filling, and sealing them with the crust. Yes, I put shortbread cookies in the savory pie, and yes, it was delicious. The buttery cookies absorbed the broth while everything was simmering away sealed up under the crust and created these buttery little doughy bits that had the entire flavor of the pot pie concentrated into them. So weirdly yet insanely delicious. I am going to add some shortbread crumbs the next time I make my thick beef stew to see what kind of a flavor and texture it adds to that one, too. Sooooo happy that it’s finally stew season again.

Chicken Pot Pie with Carrots, Caramelized Onions and Shortbread

Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 55 minutes
Cooling Time 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Author Eva Kosmas Flores

Ingredients

Filling

  • 2 large yellow onions diced
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 10 tablespoons butter
  • 3 large chicken breasts with skin
  • 5 and 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 3 chicken breasts with skin 1 tab butter
  • 2 onions 3 tab olive oil 2 teas sugar 1 hour caramelized onions
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • 1 cup sliced carrots
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1 sweet potato cut into roughly 1-inch cubes
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 teaspoon savory
  • 1/2 teaspoon sage
  • 1/4 cup cream
  • 4 Walkers shortbread fingers

Crust

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/3-1/2 cup ice water
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  1. First, caramelize the onions. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onions and stir so that they're coated in the oil. Lower the heat to medium low and allow to cook for one hour, stirring every ten minutes, until the onions are golden brown in color. Then remove it from the heat and set aside.
  2. While the onions are caramelizing, you can prepare the crust. Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. You have two options when adding the butter. 1) You could cut the butter into pea-sized pieces over the bowl. But this method usually means holding the butter in your hand which will warm it up, thus making less cold-induced flakiness. Or 2) You could cut the stick into general 2-inch cubes on a cutting board, add the butter cubes to the bowl and toss them to coat in the dry ingredients (this helps protect them from the warm air) and use a dough scraper to chop the butter cubes into smaller bits that are roughly pea-sized. Begin adding the tablespoons of ice water while stirring gently. Grab a handful of the mixture and squeeze. If it generally sticks together when you let go, it is fine. If it completely crumbles apart, it needs a bit more water. Shape into a ball and wrap the dough in plastic wrap and keep refrigerated until you're ready to roll it out.
  3. When the onions are done, remove them from the pan and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Rub the chicken down with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper. Melt the butter in the pan over medium heat and add the chicken breasts to the pan. Cover and pan fry them until they are cooked through, about 8 minutes on each side depending on the heat. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Add the broth and the flour and stir until combined. Add the caramelized onions, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes and seasonings and allow to simmer until the mixture has thickened. Meanwhile, chop the chicken breasts into roughly 1-inch cubes. Add the chicken and the cream and stir until combined. Taste, and add more salt and pepper as desired. Set aside.
  4. Remove the dough from the fridge and divide it into four equal balls. Roll each out out into a circle that is about 1/4 inch thick. Evenly distribute the filling between four oven-safe bowls. Crumble up a shortbread finger over each one, then place the crust over the top and press down around the edges to seal, trimming any excess dough. Use a sharp knife to poke a few holes in the top to allow steam to escape. Place in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving.

And if you’d like to pick up some shortbread cookies for yourself, Walkers is offering 20% off your purchase at www.walkersus.com, excluding sales items. The promo code is ACFALL and it lasts until Monday, November 4th.

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