Leftovers Week: Roast Chicken Pot Pie

As regular readers of ES might know I have difficulty pleasing my BF — in the kitchen. One of the food items that doesn’t sit well with MrsBritannia is dark meat, and I have to be honest it doesn’t sit well with me either, especially on the bone, unless it comes in a basket sitting on a bar with a beer.

The day after Christmas, at least in the U.K. and many parts of the Commonwealth, is known as Boxing Day, a Victorian-era tradition when the wealthy would provide gifts and leftovers to their servants, so they could enjoy a day off for the holidays themselves.  I was brunching across town on Christmas, so I didn’t have any leftovers the next day (fortunately I didn’t have any hired help to disappoint, either). So for Boxing Day dinner we decided to make a roasted chicken and vegetables. As most of our friends were recovering from Christmas themselves it was just the two of us, which made for plenty of post-Boxing Day leftovers, including dark meat. I put out a call for what to do with the meat and I was given a couple of good suggestions, including chicken croquettes and a pastel de choclo. But I played it safe and went with chicken pot pie.

Leftover Chicken Pot Pie

Alongside the chicken we roasted some potatoes, onions and carrots. There was plenty of everything leftover so we we used it all and nothing went to waste, even the potatoes which we reserved for a mashed potato. The only additional item purchased was a leek — I’m a huge fan as I think it adds such a nice sweet touch to any dish.

In a small pan I heated chicken stock and chicken bouillon cubes. In a larger pot I melted some butter and sauteed the leek until soft, adding in a half cup of flour to create a cream. Once the cream simmered a little I poured in the stock and stirred. From here I threw in the leftover onions, carrots and chicken and stirred some more, throwing in a little more flour until it thickened. I poured the sauce into a heatproof oven dish and placed the pastry (I had some from a leftover pie, but store-bought puff pastry will do) over the top. Baked on 375 for about an hour, until golden brown.

This was a great use of leftovers, but I have another predicament — I have leftover pie filling I don’t know what to do with. Any suggestions are welcomed in the comments!