A traditional one-dish chicken pot pie that doesn’t require fussing with pastry dough. A creamy stew loaded with chicken, leeks, carrots, celery and peas and topped with scrunched up phyllo pastry sheets. Cook chicken breasts as directed in the recipe, or as a time-saver use a rotisserie chicken or leftover cooked chicken (or turkey).
Servings6
Ingredients
Chicken
2large or 3 small boneless chicken breaststotal weight about 454g
1teaspoonolive oil
½teaspoonkosher salt
¼teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
Stew Filling
¼cupbutter
2 - 3leekswhite and light green parts only, sliced (about 2 heaping cups), rinsed and drained
1cupdiced celery
1cupdiced carrots
1cupfrozen peas
¼cupall purpose flour
½cupwhite wineor replace with an additional ½ cup chicken broth
1 284mLtin condensed chicken broth
¼cupmilk
1teaspoonkosher salt
½teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
2tablespoonsfreshly chopped thyme
Phyllo Pastry Topping
8 - 10sheets phyllo pastrythawed in refrigerator overnight (or for 3 hours at room temperature)
½cupbuttermelted
Instructions
Chicken
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake on a foil lined baking sheet for 20 - 25 minutes, turning once after the first 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Chop or shred chicken; you should have about 3 cups.
Stew Filling
Meanwhile, in a large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat, melt ¼ cup butter. Add leeks and sauté until tender, about 2 minutes. Add celery, carrots and peas and sauté until tender, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with ¼ cup flour and stir to combine until flour is absorbed.
Add wine and cook for 1 minute while stirring to combine. Add chicken broth, milk, salt, pepper and thyme and bring the mixture to a light boil for 2 minutes while stirring. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Stir in cooked chicken. Set stew aside to cool slightly.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Leave the stew in the oven proof skillet or alternatively, transfer it into a greased 9 x 12” baking dish.
Phyllo Pastry Topping & Assembly
Prepare ½ cup melted butter. On a large work surface unroll the thawed phyllo sheets and cover completely with a lightly dampened kitchen towel. The cover will prevent the sheets from drying out. Each time a sheet is removed, completely cover the remaining ones.
Working with one phyllo sheet at a time, place one on the work surface. Lightly brush the entire sheet with melted butter. With fingertips gently scrunch the sheet to about a 4” – 6” circle or oval. Place it on the stew. Continue this process with the remaining phyllo sheets until the top of the stew is completely covered. Re-wrap remaining unused phyllo sheets and re-freeze for another use.
Tent the pie loosely with foil wrap, taking care not to touch or crush the phyllo topping. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 - 20 minutes or until the filling is hot and bubbly and the phyllo topping is crispy and golden-brown. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.