I’ve always loved any kind of meal-in-a-bowl. Or in this case, a meal-in-a-ramekin. Especially in the fall; it makes comfort food all the more comforting. This one is loaded with all kinds of quintessential fall goodies: leeks, butternut squash, rainbow chard, and turkey. This is a great use for the last of that Thanksgiving turkey, by the way. For next year. I hope you aren’t eating two week old turkey.
In my case, I scored one on sale at the grocery store about a week after Thanksgiving. I had cooked many kinds of turkey before, but never a whole one. I thought this would be a great opportunity to practice roasting a whole turkey without having to worry about serving it to anyone but Josh! He would understand if we had to go out for pizza instead. On Thanksgiving… I don’t think people would be so accepting.
So with the combined guidance of Michael Symon and Ina Garten (I used his technique with her flavor profile) I created THIS. I was so excited, I didn’t know what to do with myself. Except eat it of course. Not only did it look beautiful and taste amazing, but I’ve never had a juicier piece of turkey meat. All hail the butter soaked cheesecloth! Anyway, we’ll get into that later; I’m getting off track.
Since this pot pie has a lot of hearty fall flavors in it, I wanted to make sure it didn’t feel heavy. I used puff pastry for the crust (let’s not kid ourselves – puff pastry is pure fat but it feels lighter than a feather!), skipped the heavy cream in favor of Greek yogurt, and added a little lemon zest to brighten it up. The result is satisfying without leaving you in a post-pie food coma.
Turkey Pot Pie
You could make this in one large dish instead of ramekins, but who doesn’t love their own personal pot pie?
Serves
6-8
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 medium leek, sliced lengthwise and chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 butternut squash (about 2 pounds), cut into small chunks
- 1 small bunch rainbow chard, ribs removed, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 cups chicken stock (or turkey stock if you have it!), preferably homemade
- 4 cups cooked, shredded turkey meat
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, plus extra for garnish
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, plus extra for garnish
- ¼ cup roughly chopped celery leaves
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
- 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
- 1 egg white
Special Equipment
6 medium or 8 small ramekins (I use 6 that each measure about 5 inches across)
Method
- Thaw the puff pastry according to the package directions. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Heat the butter and oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and leek; season with salt. Cook until lightly browned, stirring occasionally, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the carrot, celery, and butternut squash; add a little salt and pepper, cook for another 5 minutes, stirring. Add the chard and garlic to the pan, stirring until the chard starts to wilt.
- When the chard is wilted, add the wine to the pan and turn the heat to high. Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer until the wine is nearly cooked off. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the stock, turkey, rosemary, thyme and celery leaves. Simmer until the turkey is heated through and the liquid has thickened.
- Off the heat, add the lemon zest, yogurt and parmesan cheese. Stir to combine and check for seasonings, adding more salt and pepper to taste.
- Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface so that it’s large enough to cover and wrap around all your ramekins; cut to size and poke each piece a few times with a fork. Ladle the filling into the ramekins, leaving some space at the top. Cover each ramekin with a piece of puff pastry, pressing the overlap on to the ramekin. Brush the tops with egg white and sprinkle with the extra parmesan and herbs.
- Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake until the tops are golden brown, 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your ramekins.
Yields
6 medium or 8 small pies
