Kidney Bean Pot Pie

One of my favourite foods is Chicken Pot Pie. I mean, who doesn't love a good pot (or pan) pie? Creamy sauce, flaky crust, hearty vegetables - it's a perfect all-in-one dinner dish.

I have wanted to make a pot pie for some time, but hadn't been able to plan ahead the time to make the crust until this past weekend. The recipes I used as bases are from The Cook's Illustrated cookbook, and in the dish description they talk about how pot pies take so long to make but are worth it when you cook the entire chicken yourself in a pot and then blah de blah de blah.

The filling (kidney beans, frozen peas, canned mixed veggies, canned mushrooms, sautéed onions) in the reduced milk/chicken stock sauce.

My pot pie was quite simple, because I made it as an "I have no fresh produce in the house; let's use cans!" dish. Kidney beans instead of the traditional chicken were a delicious vegetarian alternative (vegetarian except for the chicken stock... veggie stock could be used). The beans added a little more colour, and they have a hearty enough texture to compliment the aforementioned flaky crust.

Homemade crust takes not very much effort (especially when using a food processor), and adds that special touch. Another favourite trick of mine - to avoid mess, roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper.

Making your own crust just requires 30-ish minutes of pre-planning and is quite simple. The recipes I follow mix butter and flour (2:3 ratio, normally) with a little bit of cold water and salt, let chill in the fridge for 15 minutes, and roll out your crust.

Ready to go in to the oven!

 After thirty minutes of baking...

Et voila, kidney bean pot pie, a perfectly-sized dinner for 6.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!