Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

Makes 12-14 mini (4 oz) pies

I decided to use up my leftover turkey and fresh vegetables and make mini pot pies. Some for dinner tonight, and some to freeze for later. Because I used the smallest sized jars, I ended up with 14 mini-pot pies. You could use whatever size jar you have, (they have to be the small, squatty jars, not the tall, narrow jars) or you could make a traditional, double crust pie. If you freeze some, freeze them before baking. No need to thaw before baking either*. Perfect comfort food in single serving sizes! Enjoy.

Ingredients

2 cups (or so) of cut-up, leftover turkey (or chicken)

Olive oil

1 cup (or so) raw celery

1 cup (or so) raw carrot

1 small onion, diced

1 TBSP butter

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn

Any other fresh vegetable you have on hand (I used broccoli)

2 cups white sauce

2-3 pie crusts (homemade or ready-made) See the piecrust recipe on my blog if you need a good recipe).

Medium body white sauce

4 TBSP butter

4 TBSP flour

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

2 cups milk

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir one minute.

Directions

Heat a little olive in a large skillet. Add celery, carrots and onion.

Saute until vegetables become slightly tender. Add butter, stir until melted. Add frozen peas and corn if using. Add any other veggies you decide to use. Saute for a few minutes. Add cut-up turkey. Add white sauce, stir to combine, remove from heat and set aside.

If making a standard-sized pie, pour filling into a pie-crust lined baking pan, cover with top crust and crimp the edges. Cut slits into top.

If using the mini-jars, after rolling out your pie dough, cut dough into 1½ inch wide strips. These don’t have to be pretty. Spray your jars with a non-stick spray. Take a strip of dough and encircle the inside of a jar, then cut a small patch of dough to put on the bottom of the jar. I usually make a few jars at a time because the number of jars I need will depend on how much filling I have. Once you have your pastry dough lining your jar, spoon in the filling. Do not overfill – remember you will need space for the top crust, plus you will need to be able to put the lids on when you are done if you are freezing some. This is important – I have overfilled and I can tell you it makes a mess.

Once you have used up all of your filling, roll out your second crust (I ended up using 3 crusts because I had 14 jars). Using the open lid of your jar like a cookie cutter cut out circles for the tops of all your mini pies. You can cut-out fun designs into the top crust or you can simply cut a slit in the top to vent. Put the tops on and crimp the edges with your fingers.

If you will be baking them right away, leave the lids off, heat your oven to 375 degrees and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until tops are golden and filling is bubbling. I bake mine on a cookie sheet in case any filling bubbles over.

*If you want to freeze some for later, put on the lids. Freeze, unbaked.

When ready to bake them, remove lids, put frozen pie (in jar) into a cold oven, then heat oven to 375 degrees and bake for about 50 minutes.

I like to serve mine right out of the jar.

To print recipe CLICK HERE