Happy New Year!!! I know I’m a few days late. Alan and I toasted the New Year with TamiFlu in lieu of Champagne (ugh) and I’m just now feeling human again. So, I’m celebrating right now. With this Chicken Pot Pie with Camembert. Holy smokes, this stuff would have been so worthy of New Year’s Eve. A snuggly, cozy New’s Year’s Eve in front of a fire, which is so my kind of New Year’s Eve. I want a do-over.
It’s that time of year when we want ALL the comfort food. You survived the wonderful, magical, yet hectic craziness that the holiday season brings. The decorations are put away and it is your turn to relax. Cozy up to a fire, read a good book and dig into a bowl of this gorgeous, super silky, Chicken Pot Pie with Camembert. The cheese doesn’t make the dish cheesy, per se- it just creates a silky gorgeous texture that makes this the most cravable chicken pot pie you will ever make!
The idea was born reading a blog post by Beth Kirby of Local Milk. If you are not following her gorgeous blog- you are missing out; her recipes, her wanderlust and oh, my word- her PHOTOGRAPHY- I swoon. She recently posted a recipe for a mushroom camembert pie. It looks delightful and it is high on my list of “things to cook right now” and I will try it soon. As Alan and I are die hard carnivores, we need a main dish with more protein, but I l-o-v-e the addition of the cheese. Take a gander at all our big, giant flavor boosters in this recipe. In addition to the usual suspects, we add shallot, fennel, thyme, sherry and oh, hello beautiful– the lions share of that round of camembert cheese. You can snack on the smaller piece while you cook- works out perfectly, right? 😉
This is by all means COMFORT FOOD, however, we cut down on the carbs a little by skipping out on the traditional potatoes and bottom crust.
My favorite thing about this dish is the puff pastry on top. For me, the very best part of chicken pot pie is the flaky, crumbly crust on top. Without that beautiful, flaky, golden brown crust, chicken pot pie is simply just plain old (although delicious) chicken stew. By baking the puff pastry separately, it gets super fluffy and all crackly on top without any of it getting soggy on the bottom. It was Alan’s idea- I suppose I should give him credit. Regardless, it is winter. comfort. food. perfection.
On the hunt for a few other ideas to warm your belly and your soul? Check out some of the blog favorites- our Tuscan White Bean, Sausage and Kale and Soup or our super duper easy Leek Soup. Or even our Texas Chili. All are pretty darn delightful.
Happy Cooking!
Amanda
Chicken Pot Pie with Camembert
The addition of Camembert cheese makes for the silkiest Chicken Pot Pie you’ll ever taste.
- Serves 6
- 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- 1 Onion, diced
- 1 Bulb Fennel, diced
- 2 Medium Carrots, peeled, trimmed and diced
- 2 Celery Stalks, diced
- 1 Shallot, diced small
- 4 Large Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Thyme Leaves, minced
- 3 Cups Chicken, cooked and shredded/chopped
- 1/3 Cup Cooking Sherry
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 1/2 Cup Flour
- 3 Cups Chicken Stock- low sodium
- 1/2 Cup Half and Half
- 6 oz Camembert, rind removed and cubed
- 1 Cup Frozen Peas
- Kosher Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper
- One sheet puff pastry
- One Egg, beaten
- Coarse finishing salt, such as Maldon or Falk (can sub kosher salt)
- Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch Oven over medium heat
- Saute onion, fennel, celery and carrots with 1/2 Teaspoon kosher Salt and 1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Pepper until onions are translucent- about 10-12 minutes
- Add garlic, shallot and thyme and cook two more minutes.
- Add cooking sherry and cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated.
- Stir in mustard.
- Add in flour, 1/4 Cup at a time, stirring until you can see no white.
- Add the stock and half and half and stir well.
- Add chicken
- Whisk in Camembert until melted.
- Bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer about 20 minutes until carrots are completely cooked and sauce thickens.
- Add peas and cook another 5-10 minutes.
- If sauce becomes too thick, add more stock.
- For the Puff Pastry Topping
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
- Thaw puff pastry sheet according to package directions.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet pan with parchment paper or foil (not necessary- but makes for easy clean up)
- Place a cooling rack on top of the rimmed baking sheet.
- Using a biscuit cutter, a round cookie cutter or a sharp knife, cut out six circles appropriate for the size of your serving bowls.
- Brush the pieces with the beaten egg and sprinkle with salt
- Place the pastry rounds on top of the cooling rack and bake 15 minutes.
- When pastry rounds are done, ladle out the filling into six serving bowls and top each bowl with a puff pastry.
- Enjoy!
That looks AMAZING!! Such a good idea for this time of year. I’m doing low carb- obvi I would leave off the puff pastry, but do you think there might be a good sub for the flour? I suppose it might even be good without it, just won’t be as thick/hearty. Have you ever tried thickening something like this with almond or coconut flour? TIA.
Hi Kerry! Good question! I think the cheese gives it such a lovely texture you could try it without the flour. I don’t think almond flour will give you the texture you are after. If you are on a program that requires zero white flour, but still want to try some sort of thickener- I would try coconut flour-although the ratios are difficult-I would cut the amount in half. If you are just trying to cut carbs, I would cut the regular flour down to a couple tablespoons rather than the 1/2 cup. This will still give you a little “roux-ish action”. The texture won’t be the same, but I imagine would still be pretty lovely. Let me know how it turns out. I would love to update the recipe with a low carb option. xo
Thanks, Amanda. It’s tricky to come up with ways to thicken things when trying to keep it low-carb. I think you’re right about the almond flour, though. Now that I think about it is might either make it grainy or clump up. I’ve made creamy soups before by adding a cauliflower purée, so I might try that. Anywho, I’ll def keep you posted.
Oooh- I like the idea of the cauliflower puree! Let me know how that turns out.
this sounds absolutley delicious, great for leftovers probably! thanks for giving the different twists so I can try a different one each time! 🙂