Chicken Pot Pie

When it comes to comfort food it's hard to beat a chicken pot pie. I like to make the filling for the pie in my crock pot so I can spend the day doing other things...at the end of the day the filling is ready to pour into a casserole dish, top with a crust and bake into to a golden pie. Servings: 4
Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup peeled, diced potatoes
1/4 cup peas
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/4 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon Paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk

Sauce Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper

Crust Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons milk

Instructions:

To make the sauce, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet. Add 3 tablespoons of flour and brown. Add 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Whisk to incorporate and pour into a crock pot.

Into the crock pot, add the chicken, potatoes, onion, carrots, spices and 2 tablespoons of milk. Give everything a good stir, cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. To make the crust, sift the flour and salt together in a medium sized bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and oil. Add this to the flour until well blended. Form the dough into a ball and place it between 2 pieces of wax paper. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes and then, using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 9-inch circle. You may have some crust left over. This can be frozen and used later.

Add the corn and peas to the chicken filling and transfer from the crock pot into an 8-inch round baking dish (I used a small skillet) and then cover the filling with the pie crust. Tuck the excess edges of the crust down between the filling and the sides of the baking dish. Make air vents by slicing the top in a few places.

Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the filling bubbles and the crust is golden.

Notes:
If fresh peas, carrots and corn aren't available or you want to save time, frozen vegetables will work equally well.

You can use also use a can of cream of chicken soup in place of the home made sauce.