chicken + leek pot pie

The day after Thanksgiving, I enjoyed some turkey pot pie at my parents' house. I thought, "wow, this crust is really good!" just before my mom revealed that it was just a refrigerated pie crust. I knew I bought some for a reason!

Then she handed me a chicken pot pie recipe that she tore out of the Free Press saying, "your dad won't eat half the stuff in here, so you can take it." I decided to make it the next day, but realized that I hadn't been grocery shopping in just about forever and didn't even have onions in the fridge. But, I did have refrigerated pie crust! So, this recipe has been changed quite a bit. So much so that I could probably escape any sort of copyright infringement and just call it my own.

Regardless, the result was SO tasty that I'll probably double the filling the next time. It was quite thin because I'm not cooking for an army here, but we loved the crust so we didn't mind! If you're a leek lover, definitely try this! I should also mention that I didn't take this picture until the day after. The crust looked crispier the day before. ;)

Chicken + Leek Pot Pie
Serves four-ish

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon or so olive oil
3 leeks, white and light green part only, sliced
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup cooked diced potato
2-3 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth (I used low sodium and then added a bullion cube)
1 cup low-fat milk
2-3 cups cooked and shredded chicken
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper to taste
3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning or: I admit, I didn't have Italian seasoning nor do I know what's in Italian seasoning - so I mixed equal parts of garlic powder, basil, oregano and parsley.
1/4 teaspoon crushed dried thyme
1 sheet refrigerated pie crust (thawed if frozen)


Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large pot heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the leeks and sauté until softened. Add the carrots and sauté until softened. Add the potatoes and cook 2 minutes. Sprinkle the mixture with flour and cook 1 minute. Pour in the broth and milk and cook over medium heat until the mixture is thickened. Add more flour if it is too thin. Stir in the cooked chicken, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and thyme. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish at least 2 inches deep.

Place the pie crust sheet loosely over the filling, or you can adjust it to fit to the edge and crimp the edges if desired.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit 5 minutes before serving.