Within a month in November and December most of us usually cook a couple of family feasts. Of course, as busy as restaurants are on Thanksgiving and Christmas, perhaps fewer of us are doing that. That’s too bad because a lot of the fun of cooking these feasts is the leftovers they provide.
If I were really a new-age kind of guy, I guess I would be using the term “re-purpose” rather than “leftover” but applying the term re-purpose to food just somehow strikes me as wrong. Anyway, I digress.
So I decided I wanted to do a classic, homemade, rustic and cheap dinner with leftover turkey a few weeks back. The classic part is making pot pies—but not the frozen kind you can still get at the grocery store and zap in the microwave. The homemade part is using homemade pie crust and gravy. And the cheap part is I had some leftover pie crust in the freezer that I used. (Actually the only money actually spent was a dollar on a bag of frozen vegetables). Oh, and the rustic part is my inability to get “fluting” to look “purty”.
You can put these pies in anything you have available. Some people have itty-bitty pie tins. Others have ramekins. I used a couple of those small Corning Ware skillets with a handle. They can go in the oven and are the perfect size for a dinner-sized pot pie.
This is definitely “comfort food”. You’ll love the aroma of it baking, the flavor of it when you eating and how it warms you up.
Recipe: Rustic Pot Pies
Summary: What’s more comforting than a freshly baked, homemade Rustic Pot Pie using your favorite turkey or beef. These are easy, tasty and cheap!
Ingredients
- ½ – ¾ lb left over turkey, chicken, beef or pork
- 1 – 1 ½ cups gravy (left over or fresh)—instructions for making gravy included
- ¾- 1 lb vegetables
- Pie crust http://www.cheap-bastid-cooks.com/old-fashioned-lard-pie-crust/
Instructions
- Get out a cutting board and knife, a small skillet, medium bowl and the dishes/pans you’re going to put the pot pies into.
- Turn the oven to 375.
- Cut the left over meat into about ½ inch cubes or shreds and put into the bowl.
- Add the vegetables to the meat (I bought a bag of flash frozen mixed vegetables)
- Add the leftover gravy. Please don’t use “jarred”. It costs too much and it’s “icky”.
- Quick Homemade gravy: Put the small skillet on the stove on medium low.
- Squirt about 2-3 tbsp of oil into the pan. Add an equal amount of flour.
- Stir all this together with a whisk to make a roux. Keep stirring a couple of minutes until the roux turns “blond” and blends together well.
- Then slowly add ½ cup boxed or canned broth—chicken, turkey, vegetable, beef. Whisk it well.
- When it bubbles, add another ½ cup of broth. When it bubbles, add a bit more to get the quantity you want and the thickness you want. You’ll end up with enough gravy. If it’s too thick, add more liquid until it’s the right consistency.
- Add the gravy to the meat and vegetables and stir it together really well. Salt and pepper it to taste.
- Roll out 2 pieces of pastry to about the size of a dinner plate. Put them in the pans.
- Roll out the tops to about 6 inches.
- Put the filling into the pies. Then put the tops on and “flute” the top and bottoms together.
- Put the pies on a small cookie sheet and put in the oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.
- Remove from oven. Poke the tops to vent steam, let the cool for 5-10 minutes and enjoy a tasty, homemade rustic pot pie.
Preparation time: 20 minute(s)
Cooking time: 35 minute(s)
Here’s the recipe for Cheap Bastid’s Pie Crust: http://www.cheap-bastid-cooks.com/old-fashioned-lard-pie-crust/
These are really great and along with a small salad made a fantastic dinner. I’ll be making them again with left over beef. Keep in mind, that this is more in the way of guidelines rather than a hard and fast recipe. If you want to buy pre-prepared gravy, go ahead. I find I can cook up a batch in 5-10 minutes from scratch.
And you can put the pies into any dish you have that will work. I like to make my pie crust from scratch and fortunately I had enough left over pie crust in the freezer to make these. But it would only have taken me about 10-15 minutes to make fresh pie crust. If you want to buy a refrigerated pie crust at the grocery store, go ahead. If you want to use “Crescent Roll” dough, go ahead. And if you want to make some biscuit dough or buy refrigerated biscuits to smoosh and just put a top on the pies, go ahead. It’s all going to taste great!
The Cheap Bastid Test: Well, everything but the vegetables was leftovers. So I can safely say that the cost of these fantastic Rustic Pot Pies was $1. (I got them at the dollar store). Now that’s some really good, stick you your ribs, comfort food on the cheap.
Reminds me of me grannys..
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Hello!
I found your site searching for “frugal and cheap meals” – your site was on page 10 of the search…..your site needs to be on page 1! Your writing is refreshing and your recipes are mouth-watering. The cost breakdown is wonderful too – that’s a bonus.
I enjoy reading about all the different meals you make, and you’ve inspired me to recreate my meatloaf, and wander into pie-crust making territory for this pot pie. I always by the pre-made crusts, but I don’t particularly care for them. I have been making homemade bread on and off for a couple of years, but out of necessity I will need to do so on a regular basis (you know how that goes).
Keep up the great site, and Happy New Year!
~Linda
Linda, thank you for visiting my blog and for your kind words. I’m with you. I wish my site was showing up better in searches. But, I don’t quite have the skills or time to do an adequate job of SEO. I hope you try some of my recipes and that you enjoy them. Thanks again, Walt.