An Approximation of Chicken Pot Pie

I have a recipe for Chicken Pot Pie. It’s easy, because it uses up leftover cooked chicken. And because it came from Campbell’s, it has soup in it. That makes it tasty with minimal effort. Original recipe:

Campbell’s Original Chicken Pot Pie
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup frozen veg, thawed
1 c shredded chicken
1/2 c milk
1 egg
1 c Bisquick
Preheat oven to 400. Mix soup, vegetables and chicken in 9″ pie plate. Mix milk, egg and Bisquick and pour over top. Bake 30 min until golden.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? I never make it like that. This is how I make it:

M’s Tweaked Chicken Pot Pie
1 can cream of chicken soup
A goodly portion of on hand veg, chopped carrots, celery, frozen peas…
One frozen ziplock baggie of shredded chicken (that I’d cooked and dismantled and frozen weeks ago)
Mix in square baking dish and sprinkle with cumin and paprika (the secret ingredients!). Make Easy Peasy Baking Powder Biscuits* and plop them on top. Bake 20 min until golden.

It’s good, reliable and easy. But yesterday, I had an abundance of uncooked pizza dough and did not want pizza. I knew I wanted to freeze half the meal, so I didn’t want to use freezer chicken, since it just seems wrong to stick chicken in the oven for 20 minutes, only to stick it back in the freezer again for a few weeks. I had also just been grocery shopping, so my on-hand veg selection was bountiful. Last night’s recipe (doubled for freezing):

No Chicken Pot Pie
2 cans creme of celery soup
1 large carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery
1 zucchini
handful of fresh green beans, chopped up
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tube of grocery store frozen pizza dough, thawed.
Mix everything (except the dough, obviously) in a big bowl,. Add some cumin and paprika. Put the mix into two dishes, spread out the pizza dough as much as possible on top. Bake 20 min until golden.

And, despite everything, it turned out deliciously! I loved it, and N… well N ate it, which is a victory in my books! Not that I’ll retire my tried and true Tweaked Pot Pie recipe, but it’s good to know that it’s can be adjusted to suit my needs. After this experiment, it’s definitely one of my favourite recipes!

*Easy Peasy Baking Powder Buscuits
2 c flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 c margarine
2/3 c milk
Sift flour, b powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Add in margarine, smoosh with a fork until mixed but fairly chunky. Keep stirring while adding in milk, a bit at a time. Use enough milk to form a dough that’s soft but not too sticky. Knead a bit on the counter, flatten it and cut circles with the mouth of a cup or jar. Bake 12-15 min @ 425.