Individual Chicken Pot Pies With Corn

These Individual Chicken Pot Pies are a great way to use your chicken or turkey leftovers; plus, there is no need for a complex pie. Cover the filled ramequin or small casserole with a pre-made brisé dough, and voila! It is a simple yet irresistible mini pot pie. The filling is made with lovely carrots, leeks, corn and aromatic thyme and enveloped in a smooth chicken velouté for an unbeatable, savoury and comfy meal! The kids will love digging in there!

Origin of Pot Pie

Believe it or not, Pot Pie dates back to Ancient Greece; it was a half pie, back in the day. It just had a bottom dough with a filling on top called Artocreas. Then, it slowly made its way to the UK, where the format with a top and bottom dough with a meat or seafood filling came to life! It finally jumped overseas to the Americas and got quite the hype!

Brise, Flaky or Puff?

The brisé is a basic, not folded dough; the flaky dough is folded a few times, and the puff dough many times. The more it’s folded, the more layers of butter are used and the more fluff it gets. The original pot pies use a brise bottom part with a flaky top. Although all three would work wonderfully on these pies!

If you choose the brisé dough, you’ll get a thick pie crust that is crunchy and less fat. The flaky crust would be perfect, although it is not always easy to find pre-made in supermarkets. The Puff one is super airy and crisp but higher in fat. It’s all a question of preference, but if you want an authentic pie, go with flaky dough if possible.

Leek or Onion?

Both are similar, although when it comes to pot pies, leeks are my favourite contender. It is slightly sweeter and softer than onion, which could be sharp. Leeks seem more present in Europe, although they are less popular in the US. I would never mix both; the onion erodes the delicate leeks’ taste. Unlike onions, you have to rinse your leeks because sometimes, the soil gets stuck between the layers. Cut it on the greener side, lengthwise, 3/4 of the way and rinse under running water to prevent a catastrophic event. Here, I leave you a lovely article from Kate Christensen about leeks.

Velouté or Bechamel?

The usual Pot Pie is filled with meat, veggies, seafood, and a thick, tasty velouté or Bechamel sauce. The bechamel is usually made of a roux plus milk, while the velouté is the same: a roux with a cold chicken broth. Both are equally creamy results; again, it’s a preference thing. The bechamel version is good if you have extra sharp cheese in the pie filling, but the Mini Chicken Pot Pies version is made ‘the velouté’ way, an extra savoury, meaty flavour. You substitute the cold broth for milk or vice versa, depending on your favourite taste. Both are permitted and yummy!