Happy New Year and Savory Pot Pies

Happy New Year everyone! I got a little off track with posting recipes during the holidays, but I'm back! For my first recipe of the year, I have to thank my sister Jenn because she got me an individual pie maker for Christmas.

It is a pretty cool idea... basically you make a filling, put some dough in it, and 8 minutes later you have an individual pie! If you are already sold and want one yourself, visit Williams Sonoma.

Now to my pie. I thought New Year's Eve was the perfect time to try it for a hearty dinner before heading out to celebrate. We wanted a savory pot pie flavor, so I cooked up a bunch of veggies and used frozen prepared pie dough to create our first individual pot pies. They were delicious.

One word of warning, make sure to roll the dough a bit to make it thinner. Ours was way too thick which made the ratio of filling to pie crust not exactly as we would want. Next time, I'll make my own dough which should be easier to keep it thin. Here's the recipe:


Ingredients:

2 pie crusts - if frozen, thaw first and then roll thin
1 baking potato, peeled and cubed (feel free to use sweet potato... we were going traditional here)
1/2 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup green beans, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup chickpeas
1/2 - 1 cup veggie broth (or water)
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional if you don't like it to have a kick)
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

1. Make sure your pie crusts are thawed and ready to use.
2. Fill a medium soup pot with water and bring to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until slightly soft, but not mushy. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots and celery and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add 1 tbsp of water, at a time, to the skillet if the veggies start to stick.
4. Add peas, green beans, chickpeas, and cooked potatoes to the skillet. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the green beans are to the softness you prefer.
5. In a small bowl, combine the veggie broth and cornstarch. Whisk until smooth and no lumps remain. Pour into the skillet. Stir to combine. If the mixture appears too thick, add more veggie broth or water. Set aside.
6. Follow the pie maker instructions to heat the pie maker, cut the dough and place the dough into the molds. Add the filling and top with dough as per the directions.
7. Cook for approximately 8 minutes. Remove from pie maker carefully and serve.
8. Enjoy!