Maggie Monday: Weeknight Chicken Pot Pie

I have stated numerous times before that I am not a fan of peas. My wife never really knew how much I disliked them until she watched me pick out every last one from a pot pie I was eating. I may have to make Maggie’s recipe below, sans peas. Check it out…

My husband dreams about pot pies. I’ll bet I could elicit a Pavlovian drool response by just telling him I might make a pot pie for dinner. Making a “real” pot pie from scratch is awesome. And takes pretty much the whole day… roasting a chicken, chopping and cooking veggies, making a gravy, preparing the pastry… blah blah blah. Who has time?

I like to throw my husband a decent meal that HE likes every now and then, so have come up with this foolproof Pot Pie cheat method.  I can have this baby in the oven in about 15 minutes, then just wait for the magic to happen!

Rotisserie chickens are magical. I use them. All. The. Time. It is perfect for this dish. All these ingredients are frozen, jarred or prepared, so it rocks.

Made one tonight and son #3 could have eaten the whole thing by himself. After the massive “scramble” he had already made and consumed that included: 4 scrambled eggs, 3 leftover grilled hamburger patties, leftover corn- 2 cobs- 1 cup rice and at least a ½ cup of shredded cheese. All glommed together in a mixing bowl. It was like watching Jethro on the Beverly Hillbillies. Gross.

Anyhow, try this on a night you need some quick comfort food!

Weeknight Chicken Pot Pie

What you need:

1/2 rotisserie chicken, skinned and diced

1 -10 oz bag of  frozen mixed vegetables

1 cup frozen diced potatoes

1 jar chicken gravy

2 refrigerated pies crusts (1 box)

milk or cream for brushing pastry

What you do:

Place one pastry in bottom of deep dish pie plate. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Place vegetables and potatoes in  a large bowl and thaw in microwave.  Add chicken and gravy, and stir together. Pour into pie plate, and cover with remaining pastry. Crimp edges of pastry closed. Cut some slits in the top of the crust, then brush with some cream.

Bake for about an hour, until gravy is bubbly and crust is golden brown.