I topped these pies with half as much puff pastry than I should have. The pastry top should always be over abundantly overabundant over a pot pie. Mine were daintily thin. Of course the one thing you cannot sacrifice is the flavour and that requires rich gravy. This is not always available when you work with leftovers and pot pies are generally made from leftovers. Otherwise it’s just too much bother. But if you plan ahead with a big roast and save every blessed brown bit, fat and jelled bit you can have your roast and your pot pies too. We had a lovely pork roast on Sunday and so by Wednesday we were ready for pot pies. These are not the same as your ordinary pork pies, no that’s something altogether different and for some reason those never appealed to me. But I like potpies. The first time I had one was in Victoria. There used to be a Teahouse near the waterfront, just a block away from the legislature and the Tally-Ho horses. The horses do their business on the street and the politicians do it inside the legislature. But back to the potpies, any leftover roast will do, be it beef, pork, chicken or turkey. The vegetables can vary as well; try to pick different colors for a nice contrast. If you have to use peas, use it sparingly, because the carrots are already sweet. This recipe makes six modest sized potpies.
PORK POTPIES
1/2 pkg. commercial puff pastry [can easily use whole package]2 cups diced leftover pork roast
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery root
1 cup diced rutabaga
1 cup diced broccoli
3 cups rich meat stock
1-2 cups of roast drippings and brown bits
flour for thickening the gravy
6 medium small ramekins or small aluminum pie plates
1 egg
• Chop the leftover meat into uniform chunks.
• Wash, peel and dice the vegetables the same size.
• Cook the vegetables separately in a rich soup stock. Do not overcook; vegetables should give a little resistance when bit into. Set each vegetable aside to cool.
• Divide the meat and the cooked vegetables between the ramekins or small aluminum plates.
• Then using the stock and all that saved brown bits from the roast you made the other night make thick gravy. The gravy provides the flavour for the potpie, so make sure it’s not bland.
• After the gravy cools down a bit put it through the blender; the gravy should be smooth. Divide the gravy between the ramekins.
• Divide the store bought puff pastry six ways and roll each peace into a flat round.
• In a small bowl lightly whisk the egg for egg wash.
• Brush the rims of the ramekins with egg wash. This will be the glue to keep the pastry tops on.
• Sometimes the pastry top is decorated; but you will need extra puff pastry to do this.
• Brush the tops with the egg wash.
• Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 35 minutes.
