One of the very few memories I have of my mother is baking chicken pies for the annual church chicken pie dinner. I just remember joining all these ladies every night for an entire week in the church basement to help prep all the pies – tons and tons of pies! One table would be rolling dough, another chopping up the chicken, another fixing the veggies and so on. My favorite of course was always rolling out the dough and pinching the crust. Pie after pie, year after year I perfected my dough making skills, and still haven’t lost my touch even though it took me till 30-years old to realize my true talent of pie baking.
Pies are an art and you have to treat the ingredients with love and patience to make it taste the best – seriously, ask my neighbor who I scold for rolling the dough too hard. If you’re angry and annoyed to make the pie, it just won’t taste the same – so it’s a great excuse to turn on some Frank Sinatra and pull out the vino and get your hands dirty.
Pies are really a lot easier to make that people thing – once you get the hang of it. Really, it’s just a casserole wrapped in dough (and that makes it taste THAT much better). So the hard part is only the dough and I’ve even revealed how easy THAT can be by making the ricotta cheese dough (see here).
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Start by sautéing and chopping the chicken (or cutting it from the bones if you baked it!).
2. Chop onion and garlic and add it a large pot with a pat of butter. Stir/cook the onions until they are translucent. Then add the additional veggies (if they are fresh, you will need to continue to cook them until they are mostly cooked and softened.
3. Add the flour. Whisk in the milk and chicken broth a little at a time so it doesn’t clump. Continue to stir until it is miked well. Turn the heat to low. Let it continue to cook on low heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring here and there.
4. While the veggies are simmering, start your dough. Follow the ricotta cheese dough recipe here. Roll out the bottom and place in the glass pie pan.
5. Add the pie mixture. Roll out the top cover. (Don’t forget to cut air holes in the middle).
6. Brush the crust and top of pie with a beaten egg (this keeps the crust from drying out and burning in the oven).
7. Bake the pie for about 45 minutes, or until the crust turns golden brown.
[yumprint-recipe id=’1′]And that’s all folks! Bust out your sweat pants cause you won’t want to move until you eat the entire thing!
[tweet_box]Bake a chicken pie so good you’ll feel like you’re on the farm. [/tweet_box]
