It was 10 degrees this morning. I was so cold/miserable and you probably were too. Enter: chicken pot pie. This is about as warm and comforting as food gets (except for you mac and cheese you know you’re still my number one). Make this warm blanket of dish and try not to IV it to your body while walking to work in negative degree wind chills.

Inspired by Ina Garten

You’ll need (for four individual pot pies):

Crust:

If making from scratch follow this recipe

If using puff pastry:

2 sheets puff pastry thawed, I like to thaw in the fridge

1 egg (for egg wash)

Flakey sea salt and black pepper (option)

Filling:

3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt/Pep

5 cups chicken stock

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1.5 sticks unsalted butter (12 tablespoons)

2 cups yellow onions, chopped (about 2 onions)

0.75 cup all-purpose flour

0.25 cup heavy cream

2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for two minutes

1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (2 cups)

1.5 cups frozen small whole onions

0.5 cup minced fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place chicken breast on baking sheet and rub with olive. Sprinkle aggressively with salt/pep. Roast for 35-40 minutes, or until cooked through. Once cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut into large dice (4-6 cups of cubed chicken total).

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and sauté the onions over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes, until translucent.

Add the flour and cook over low heat stirring constantly for two minutes.

Add the hot stock and simmer over low heat for 1 more minute or until thick, stirring the whole time. You will begin to feel relaxed and warm and hungry.

Add two teaspoons of salt, 0.5 teaspoon of pepper and heavy cream. Add chicken, carrots, peas, onions and parsley and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out the puff pastry to desired thickness. You need to roll it out enough that you can get two pot pie toppings per pastry sheet. I like to take my bowl, place it on top of the pastry and cut a circle out around it (I leave extra dough on too because who doesn’t want a little extra?).

Fill each of your bowls with filling. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash (your egg beaten with a tablespoon of water). Place the dough on top and trim if you want to make it look pretty (rather than maximize the amount of carb for each pot pie). Press to make the dough stick (crimp a little too). Brush the dough all over with the egg wash and make a few slits so you don’t have explosive pot pie. Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.

Place on a baking sheet and bake until the top is browned. Since the filling is already cooked this is just a matter of getting the dough cooked through. If you are using puff pastry this should only take about 15 minutes.