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Getting a little sick of turkey sandwiches these days? If so, I feel ya.
Since I didn’t get to my parent’s house in Northern Michigan until Thanksgiving Day this year, we held off our Big Turkey Dinner until Friday. The local meat market had somehow screwed up our fresh turkey order, so instead of picking up the locally raised 22-pounder I’d ordered last week, my mom came home with one 17 pound turkey and one 13 pound turkey- basically, all that was left in the store on Wednesday afternoon. This means we had 30 pounds of turkey to feed 11 people, and I don’t care how big of an eater you are (and we’re a family of Big Eaters, for reals) 30 pounds is a ridiculous amount of turkey. Which means a ridiculous amount of leftover turkey meat.
Don’t get me wrong – a leftover turkey sandwich is def my favorite part about the day after Thanksgiving, but the perfectly way to use up all this leftover freaking turkey is a big, steamy Turkey Pot Pie. It’s especially perfect here in Michigan, which is currently undergoing a freakshow of an early winter, with 6 inches (!!) of snow outside on the ground, more forecasted to arrive, and a pile of wet snow boots stacked at the front door. There is nothing better than coming in from the cold, brisk outdoors, a snow-covered dog on a leash in one mittened hand, and smelling a hot turkey pot pie just out of the oven. My toes may be freezing as I write this, but the mere thought of a hot pot pie is enough to thaw them out.
Pot pie is also fortifying, since the start of December always feels like the beginning of a marathon to me. We’re all, “Thanksgiving into Christmas into Baby Prep into the New Year” right now, and it’s enough to make anyone feel a little winded. As often as I get butterflies and am so pumped to meet this baby I feel I may die of excitement, it’s just as often that I feel a lingering edge of terror lurking behind every washed and folded swaddle wrap. Pretty soon, the Big Man and I will be the sole caretakers of a tiny human person. This is way more than making sure the dog has enough food in her bowl. And it’s way more than all the tiny little socks that are so stinking cute I feel like hoarding a million of them, just because. So, therefore, I refuse to feel bad about stress eating in order to calm any anxiety.
When it comes to stress eating, you could do a helluva lot worse than this pie. The fennel is totally what makes this pie stand out from other pot pies, adding a refreshing, creamy flavor that works perfectly with the sour cream biscuit dough topping (which I totally lifted straight from this post). I definitely recommend adding the fennel in with the rest of the veggies, if at all possible.
Then again, if it’s the end of the day and you’ve been cleaning and Black Friday shopping and relative putting-up-with, a pot pie is a pretty forgiving dish to make. Throw in whatever veggies you have on hand, add you shredded turkey, cover the whole thing up with a cheap and cheerful biscuit dough, and dinner is served. No anxiety required.
Turkey Pot Pie Recipe
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2 cups whole wheat white flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream
For the pie filling:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter, for sauteeing
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 2 large sticks celery, diced
- 1 cup diced fennel bulb
- ½ cup peas (I used frozen)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt ½ cup flour
- 1 ½ cup shredded or diced turkey meat
- 1 egg white, whisked – or 1 tablespoon butter, melted (for brushing the dough)
Instructions
For the dough:
- Sift together all the dry ingredients. Incorporate the sour cream until everything is just combined, then turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until the dough is in one large ball. The dough will still feel rather lumpy in your hands. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for ½ an hour, or overnight.
For the pie filling:
- Heat the olive oil or butter in a large saucepan. Cook the onions, carrots, celery and fennel until the carrots are just cooked through and the rest of the vegetables have softened. Add the peas and garlic and cook until the garlic has softened and is fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the cooked vegetables into an ovenproof 8”x5” baking dish and preheat the oven to 350*F.Remove the dough from the fridge and unwrap. Using a floured rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out until it is roughly the size of the baking dish. Carefully lift the dough off of your floured surface and place it on top of the baking dish, making sure all the filling is covered by the dough. If any holes appear, pinch the dough back into place. Brush the dough with a light layer of egg whites or butter, then place in the preheated oven.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the dough is browned and cooked all the way through. Remove and serve hot.
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