I’ve been doing a lot of cooking from scratch lately. I guess, growing up in a world full of convenience foods I just never realized how easy it is to cook with ingredients I keep mostly on hand rather than eating something pre-made where half the ingredients are things that I don’t know what they are and can’t even pronounce! I like knowing exactly what is in my food!
My Chicken Pot Pie Pockets are a perfect example – and they put the commercially available frozen “pocket” meals to shame! This recipe makes about a dozen pockets; plenty to eat some fresh for dinner and freeze the rest for future use. And they’re fairly easy to make!
You will need:
| For the Crust: | | For the Filling: |
2 1/4 c. warm water
3 tbsp. sugar
3 1/2 tsp. yeast
4 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt | | 2 chicken breasts, cut into small bites
4 tbsp butter
1 bag frozen peas & carrots
3 cups cubed potatoes (2 or 3 medium potatoes)
1 medium diced onion
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup flour
salt & pepper to taste |
First, make the crust so it has time to rise while you do the rest. I use this crust recipe for a variety of yummy recipes, including cheese sticks and garlic knots (I’ll share those recipes soon)! The dough has a sweet slightly-yeasty flavor and is super easy to make.
First, mix the warm water (not too hot or you’ll kill the yeast) with the yeast and sugar and set aside for 5 minutes until it’s bubbly and frothy on top. While the yeast gets happy munching on the sugar water, measure out your flour and salt into your mixer bowl (I use my stand mixer with the dough hook attachment to make my dough – I highly recommend doing it that way, but you can do it by hand, you’ll just have to get your hands dirty!)! Dump your water sugar yeast mixture into the mixing bowl and blend until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl (if your dough is too sticky, feel free to add a little more flour as the mixer runs).
Cover the mixing bowl with a towel and place in a warm spot to rise for at least 10 minutes. After the dough has risen, dump it out onto a well-floured surface and divide into a dozen dough balls. Roll each ball out to a 7 inch circle; you can do this as you are ready to fill the pockets or ahead of time – it’s up to you!
Now, for the filling, prep your ingredients by cutting the chicken breasts into small bites, dicing the onion and peeling and cubing the potatoes. I place my potatoes in a small mixing bowl and microwave them for a few minutes to pre-cook them a little before I start cooking (probably about 3 minutes).
Melt the butter in a large sauce pan or a stock pot and then place onions and chicken in pan to cook over medium heat . When onions begin to soften, add the potatoes and continue cooking, stirring regularly to prevent burning.
When the chicken is cooked, the onions are clear and the potatoes are soft add the chicken stock and frozen peas and carrots. Stir to mix and bring to a gentle boil, still using medium heat. Once the mixture is boiling, add the flour carefully by sprinkling across the surface and mixing in gently to avoid flour lumps. Stir gently until the mixture thickens and add salt and pepper to taste. Once the mixture thickens remove it from heat (it will thicken more as it cools, so remove from heat before it’s very thick).
I like to use parchment paper when I bake my chicken pot pie pockets because then I don’t have to worry about the pockets sticking; but if you choose not to use it, simply coat your baking sheet with a light spray of non-stick cooking spray. Also, it’s easiest to assemble these on the baking sheet because the dough is thin before it goes in the oven (it will rise while it bakes).
To assemble, place approximately 1/2 cup of the vegetable and chicken mixture in the center of a dough circle and fold the dough over the filling to form a half-circle. Pull the top half of the dough to where it’s just shy of the bottom half of the circle and bring the edge of the bottom part of the dough up over the top edge and crimp together, sealing the pocket.
 |
Note how the bottom half of the crust is folded back over
the top half and crimped together to seal. |
Assemble as many pockets as your baking sheet will hold and then bake in a pre-heated 375°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes and then rub a stick of butter over the top crust until glossy (this makes them prettier and adds a little flavor, too).
I usually can fit three pockets on a cooking sheet, so I use two or three baking sheets and prep the next sheet’s worth of pockets while there’s a batch in the oven. Then, we each get a pocket warm and fresh for dinner and freeze the rest.
To freeze, I wrap each pocket in cling wrap or foil after they’ve cooled and then put 4 or 5 pockets together in a gallon freezer bag. To reheat, just microwave 60 to 90 seconds, depending on the power of your microwave. These make a great, filling lunch on their own or a delicious dinner when paired with a side salad or a soup! Enjoy!
