Curry Turkey Pot Pie

This recipe started as this Kardea Brown one here but evolved into my own. Still, gotta give credit where credit is due! I changed up the meat, veggies, and crust, but kept the curry and general concept. The result was the best use of leftover Thanksgiving turkey I’ve had yet!

Just as you start cooking, take a sheet of puff pastry out of the freezer to defrost. Heat a tbsp of vegetable oil and 6 tbsp of butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 stalks of celery (diced), 1 tsp curry powder, and some salt and cook until the veggies soften (~10 minutes). Add 1 clove of minced garlic and sauté for an extra minute before stirring in your frozen veggies (I used about 1/2 a bag of frozen broccoli florets and 1/2 bag frozen mushrooms). Add 1/4 c. flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 2 min. Slowly add 1 1/2 c. chicken broth and 1/2 c. milk, and whisk until it’s lump-free. This is your filling and now it’s time to make it creamy so simmer that sucker for about 5 minutes until it thickens up. Season with a bit of salt and pepper and then add in 2.5 c. leftover turkey, roughly chopped. Stir it all together and turn off the heat. At this point, take your ramekin or mini crock, flip it over onto the puff pastry and trace around it with a knife, going slightly larger than the rim. Pour your filling into the crocks, place a round of puff pastry over the top and press down to seal. Brush the top with an egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp water, beaten) and place the crocks on a lined baking dish (in case there’s spillage). Bake at 400 for 25 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

This came out even better than I had hoped. I loved the puff pastry crust to keep things light when pot pie is such a heavy dish. The curry was such a nice touch and since it’s added early in the cooking process it’s a mellow touch at that. We all know that first turkey sandwich after the Thanksgiving meal is incredible…but after that you’re kinda done. This was a totally fresh take that cleans out the fridge. And if there’s a nip in the air since the holiday season officially starts the day after T’giving, this is just the kind of cozy meal you want.

Notes/Adaptations:

• I used frozen broccoli and mushrooms instead of frozen peas and carrots simply because those are the preferred veggies in our house.
• I used leftover turkey instead of chicken because we had a 10 lb turkey for two people I had to start getting creative.
• I used puff pastry instead of pie crust, again, because the name of the game was leftover cleanout and I had a sheet of puff pastry remaining. All three of my adaptations steer this pot pie away from traditional territory, but we’re using curry so this pot pie was non-traditional from the jump.