Chicken Pot Pie with Sage Roasted Root Vegetables
Chicken Pot Pie is pretty much the ultimate comfort food. It’s like the rich, decadent version of chicken soup – in a crust. Creamy, savory, crunchy and buttery all in one warm, soothing dish. I previously shared my basic recipe for Chicken Pot Pie, handed down from my mother, but lately I’ve felt like taking some of my more tried-and-true dishes and mixing them up a bit. In this case, I decided to add more veggies, cut them in bigger chunks, and roast them in a hot oven before adding them to the pie, to bring out all their wonderful, sweet flavor. In honor of the fall chill in the air around here, I used fall root vegetables and added some sage to the filling. I ended up using a mix of carrots, turnips and parsnips, and, while any root vegetables will work, I highly recommend trying out some of these under-used fall vegetables. Parsnips are like a sweeter, earthier cousin to carrots while turnips make a nice change from potatoes. The turnip and parsnip made the pie a little sweeter than usual, but it was nicely balanced by the sage.
Ingredients
- 2 9-inch pie crusts, either homemade or store bought
- 2 pounds root vegetables, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (I used 2 carrots, 1 large parsnip and 1 large turnip)
- 8 ounces pearl onions, peeled
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup onion, finely minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- 2 Tablespoons fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 egg mixed with 1 Tablespoon water for an egg wash
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. On a large sheet pan, mix together the cubed root vegetables, pearl onions, olive oil, salt, pepper and dried sage until the vegetables are well-coated with oil. Roast in the preheated oven, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside but keep the oven on.
- In a large saucepan, melt the 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the minced onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook for a few minutes, whisking constantly, until the flour just begins to brown. Whisk in the chicken broth, continuing to whisk until no lumps remain. Turn down the heat and continue to cook and stir until the mixture thickens to a creamy consistent. Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked chicken, the roasted root vegetables and the chopped fresh sage.
- Line a 9-inch pie plate with one of the pie crusts. Pour in the chicken and vegetable mixture with as much of the sauce as will fit without overflowing the crust. Top with the second pie crust and pinch the crusts together at the edge to seal. Quickly cut a few slits in the top of the pie with a knife and brush the top of the crust with the egg wash. Place in the preheated oven and cook for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Check often during the last 20 minutes of cooking to make sure the edge of the crust does not burn. Let cool 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
