It’s that turkey time of year. My family doesn’t usually do turkey for Christmas so we usually go above and beyond over Thanksgiving. This year we had a truly massive bird- 12.5 kg! (that’s 27.5 lbs for our American neighbours) Probably a little much, even for 7 people, but we made good use of the leftovers- nothing goes to waste in our household.
A freezer full of delicious turkey stock, a big pot of turkey soup, turkey sandwiches for lunch and, my personal favourite, turkey pot pie. I think I might like turkey leftovers more than the actual feast…
This super simple and delicious pie recipe comes comes courtesy of Jamie Oliver. I love Oliver’s recipes because they include measurements like a ‘smidge’, a ‘glug’ or a ‘handful’. It’s all good, rustic home cooking that doesn’t fuss too much with being perfect or flawless. It’s fun food to cook. Oh, and of course, it’s all incredibly delicious.
I made some minor alterations to the recipe but if you want to be a purist, I’ve included the link to Oliver’s original recipe at the bottom of the page. The biggest difference in mine is that I use walnuts in place of chestnuts for the crust- I just prefer them. Chestnuts can also be tricky to come by and then of course I end up with an open pack of chestnuts in my fridge- what would I use leftover chestnuts in? (Oh, now I feel compelled to look up chestnut recipes and try them out…)
Oh, and did I mention this super easy, super delicious, super foolproof pot pie also comes with it’s own gravy. Yeah. And no roux making or fussing with additional stock, this gravy get strained out of the filling mix and poured on top of your finished pie- too easy.
It’s a winner, is what I’m saying. American friends, get yourself a slightly larger than average turkey this November, you’re going to want those leftovers…
| Turkey Leek Pot Pie with Sage & Walnut Studded Puff-Pastry | Print |
- 500 g turkey meat, coarsely chopped
- 3 leeks, white and light green parts thinly sliced (I like to save the dark tops in the freezer for homemade stock)
- 2 rashers Applewood smoked bacon, coarsely chopped
- 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
- 3 cups turkey or chicken stock
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 2 Tbsp crème fraîche or sour cream
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed in fridge
- ¼ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 1 Tbsp fresh sage leaves
- 1 egg, lightly beaten + 1 tsp water (egg wash)
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add your coarsely chopped bacon along with the thyme leaves and let them cook together until the bacon is a little crispy. Add the leeks to the pan along with a pinch of salt and pepper and stir well.
- Turn the heat down to med-low, cover and cook for 30 minutes. The leeks have enough moisture in them to cook down and become buttery this way, but make sure to remove the lid and stir them every 5 or 10 minutes to make sure they don't stick or burn.
- Once the leeks are melt-in-your-mouth soft, add the turkey meat and stir. If you've got some leftover stuffing, may as well throw that in as well- yum! Add flour and stir to coat then pour in the stock and crème fraîche, stir and bring everything to a boil. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste (I like to add a fair bit of pepper since it pairs so well with the leeks but season to your own palette).
- Pour the turkey mixture through a sieve over a large empty bowl or pan and let it drip through. The drippings with be the 'gravy' for our pot pie and the strained turkey our filling.
- Roll out the puff pastry, dusting with flour as needed. Roll the pastry out to about twice the size as you will need then sprinkle the walnuts and sage over half. Fold the other half of the pastry on top and give it one more roll with the rolling pin. It's okay if some pieces burst through, it's just added texture and rustic Jamie Oliver-style loveliness.
- Get a deep oven-safe dish and pour the drained filling in, evening out the surface with the back of a spoon. Lay your pastry over top and gently fold the edges in. Once again, because this is a Jamie Oliver recipe he gives you a lot of leeway to be rustic and wonderful so no need to get too fussy with how it folds in at the edges. Gently score the top with a sharp knife- drop the knife and gently drag it over the top of the pastry in a cross-hatch formation, we don't want to burst through to the filling.
- Add a pinch of salt to your egg wash and brush it over the puff pastry. Cook for 35 to 40 minutes until the pastry is puffed up and golden.
Where do I add the creme fraiche??
It’s added with the stock before straining the filling. If you don’t have any, it’s not a big omission, but I like the slightly creaminess and tanginess it imparts.