Pots of gold...

The other night I made coq au vin with extremely large chicken breasts. They must have been some sexy chickens. Needless to say there was chicken for days. I was ready to move on from the coq au vin but needed to find a way to incorporate all the succulent leftover chicken into another dish. We also had a plethora of broccoli in the fridge. It's the one veggie I know my kids will eat but we had stocked up enough for the whole neighborhood it seems. I decided to make individual chicken pot pies and instead of the traditional peas, I would use the broccoli. There was even puff pastry in the freezer left over from the holidays all ready to be its crowning glory. Coming out of the oven, they weren't the prettiest things but very tasty! A great way to use up left over chicken and veggies.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 onion, chopped medium
1/2 stick(4 tbsp) of unsalted butter
1/4 cup of flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 chicken bouillion cube
1/4 cup of heavy cream

2 carrots; peeled, diced and blanched (parboil) for 2 minutes
2 cups of broccoli; cut into bite size pieces and blanched along with the carrots, you can use peas for a more traditional filling
2-3 cups of cooked chicken meat; skin and bones removed, cut into large cubes
Salt and pepper
Package of frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package directions

In a large pan or dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent but not brown, stirring occasionally. About 10 minutes. (While onions are cooking, heat up broth in a saucepan and dissolve the boullion cube. If it starts to boil, turn off the heat.) Add the flour to the onions and cook for another 2 minutes, constantly stirring. Add the hot broth to the pan, turn down the heat to a low simmer. Keep stirring and breaking up the clumps until the flour is dissolved. About 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the heavy cream. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the chicken and vegetables, stir to combine.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling amongst 3-4 individual size baking dishes or one large one.

Place the puff pastry over the dish/es and use a knife to cut a couple one inch slits into the dough to allow steam to escape. If you are making individual pot pies you will have to cut the pastry to fit each one. Also make sure to evenly disperse the chicken and veggies into each dish.

Place the dishes onto a baking sheet and then into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.