Sunday, April 18, 2010

Ain't No Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie


Who doesn't love to come home to the aroma of classic, cozy comfort food permeating from their oven. I know I do, although, usually the hubs is the one coming home to it while I'm the one preparing. Either way, all those classic comfort food dishes just tickle me pork! I came across this deliciously modern Chicken Pot Pie recipe in Cooking Light magazine a few years back. Being that it came from Cooking Light, it is obviously much lighter in fat than a classic Chicken Pot Pie but my fave thing about this dish (besides that its super tasty and makes great leftovers) is how easy it is. The phyllo dough topping makes this dish unbelievably simple and is a HUGE time saver. I think this dish is an absolute must for all you modern housewives to add to your repertoire.

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups red potato (about 1 pound)
2 cups diced onion
2 cups sliced mushrooms (about 8oz.)
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrot
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
2 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 cups fat free milk
1/2 cup less sodium chicken broth
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (about 12oz.)
1 cup frozen green peas
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
6 sheets phyllo dough, thawed

Preheat oven to 375.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over med-high heat; add oil. Add potatoes and next 6 ingredients (through thyme). Saute for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and sprinkle flour over vegetables. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in milk and broth. Increase heat to med-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add chicken, peas, salt and pepper.
Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish. Place 1 phyllo sheet on a large cutting board or work surface. Make sure to cover remaining phyllo dough with a towel to keep from drying out. Lightly spray phyllo sheet with cooking spray. Repeat layers with cooking spray and place phyllo layers loosely on top of mixture in dish. Place dish on baking sheet and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Makes about 6 servings.

A few tips:
1. To save even more time, grab an already cooked rotisserie chicken from your grocery store.
2. Phyllo dough can be found in the freezer section at your grocery store. You will get more sheets than you need in a pkg so feel free to throw those unused sheets back in your freezer for next time.
3. Fresh herbs are always nice, but I've found I can never use up all the herbs that come in a pkg, thus it ends up going to waste, which I hate! Dried herbs are just as yummy in this dish, just make sure to cut the amount in half as dried herbs are about twice as strong as fresh herbs.

recipe courtesy of Cooking Light April 2007

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