Chicken Pot Pie with a Feta-Parmesan-Herb Biscuit Crust

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Now this is one of the ultimate comfort foods, ever. I actually tried to make a chicken pot pie before — maybe 5 years ago — and it was a complete disaster. Flavorless, too much work and just kind of meh. It’s taken me 5 years to want to attempt another one. Wow, am I glad I did! This chicken pot pie is anything but meh…it is awesome!

It’s also a great project for a Saturday or Sunday, it seems like there are a lot of steps, but it goes very quickly. Plus, you can use up lots of vegetables, pretty much add any combination that you have. I subbed frozen lima beans for the peas and added about 4 stalks of cut up (about 1 inch pieces) of asparagus right before I added the flour.

Oh, diced butternut squash would probably be wonderful in this, or maybe even some sweet potato chunks! This is based on a recipe in Gourmet magazine, but that was for a turkey pot pie with a cheddar-biscuit crust, so, really this is much different!

Chicken Pot Pie with a Feta Herb Biscuit Crust
For filling:
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bit-sized pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tsp chopped thyme
1/2 tsp chopped rosemary
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 pound mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup frozen baby peas, thawed
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup fat-free milk
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese

For biscuit crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups well-shaken buttermilk
1/4 cup mixed chopped herbs (chives, rosemary, thyme, and sage are good, and although it is not an herb, so are green onions)

Add olive oil to large pot and brown chicken over medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes until golden. Remove and set aside, leaving any extra oil in pan.

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In that pan, add the 3 tablespoons of butter and cook the onion, garlic, carrots, rosemary and thyme with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are almost tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, uncovered, stirring, until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.

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Sprinkle with flour and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in wine, broth and milk, scraping up any brown bits, and bring to a boil, stirring, then simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in chicken pieces, peas, Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste. Reheat over low heat just before topping with biscuit crust.

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Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.

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Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl. Add cheeses and herbs and toss to coat.

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Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir just until a dough forms.

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Drop biscuit dough onto filling in 8 large mounds, leaving spaces between biscuits. If you have extra biscuit dough, drop them down on a cookie sheet and bake alongside the pie, for about 15 minutes.

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Bake until biscuits are puffed and golden brown and filling is bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes.

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Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

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Oh! So good. And besides a wonderful dinner, we will be having tasty lunches this week for sure.

12 Replies to “Chicken Pot Pie with a Feta-Parmesan-Herb Biscuit Crust”

  1. Mmm. I’ve been on a biscuit kick lately, and I was just thinking of making chicken and biscuits. I might just try this. 🙂

  2. You have taken what was probably a good recipe and greatly improved it, resulting in a delicious dish. The chicken sauce is wonderful by itself, but combined with the cheese-herb biscuits, it is fantastic! I was a little concerned that the herbs in the biscuits might be too much, but that was not the case (I used scallions, rosemary, and thyme). The only changes I made were to use whole milk (had it on hand) and 1/2 cup of cake flour b/c of running out of regular flour while making the recipe (doh! no pun intended). My cooking time was a bit faster than yours, 5-6 minutes for sauteeing the vegies and 30 minutes for baking. I baked it in a 9×13-inch glass pan, which is shown but not mentioned in the recipe. Thanks for your excellent food blog!

  3. This made wow-ing my friends very easy! Delicious is an understatement. Thanks for your blog.

  4. Okay, this may sound heretical, but I made this recipe with good jarred tuna instead of chicken so I could feed it to a fishetarian friend. It turned out really great, and I’m keeping this recipe for future experiments. Thanks!

  5. Rosa: Thanks!
    Adele: You really should give it a try.
    Wow: Thanks! I’m so glad you liked it!
    Christine: Hope you enjoy it!
    Rob: Thanks, glad it all worked, and yes, that was exactly the size pan I used. Good catch!
    Stephen: Thanks!
    Lex: I have no problem with using tuna in this…in fact, I may give that a try! Thanks! 🙂

  6. I’m the fishetarian friend Lex refers to, and I can attest that it was indeed quite yummy. Not fishy at all with tuna (although that could have been a result of using good fish to begin with). Looking forward to having it again, or experimenting with it myself!

  7. this was a very good recipe, it came out great, very tasty and recommend it highly. i used self rising flour instead of all purpose soda baking powdwer,,for those that dont like fetta cheese,, use it anyway!! it was a great compliment to the crust, not the strong fetta taste some prople dislike, all 4 other guests i had wouldnt leave withiut the recipe.

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