Chicken Pot Pie

Fall brings comfort food recipes back into your cooking. I used two kinds of winter squash from my fall  harvest which gave the chicken pie a sweet and savory flavor. This chicken dumpling pot pie is a perfect recipe to make ahead using your leftover roasted or rotisserie chicken and then enjoy it the next day by heating it up in your oven.

This is one of those dishes that doesn’t have to be exact in the ingredients or measurements.  You can add any of your favorite vegetables in this recipe so go ahead and be creative. It’s also a great way to put some healthy vegetables with fiber into your family’s dinner. This is the way I like to cook. I don’t measure, I just add whatever I have in the pantry or refrigerator! By the way go ahead substitute your leftover turkey from your thanksgiving dinner. I works and it’s delicious too! Enjoy and Happy Fall!

Ingredients:

2 cups or more cut up leftover cooked chicken

2 stalks celery (finely chopped)

1 small onion (finely minced)

2 small carrots (cut into small pieces)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

2 cooked potatoes (cut into 1 inch cubes)

2 cups cooked butternut or any winter squash (cut into cubes)

3 or more  cups chicken broth (depending on how thick you want gravy)

1/2  cup of milk or cream

2 teaspoons chopped parsley

dash of nutmeg

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Dumplings:

2 cups of Bisquick or any biscuit mix

2/3 cup of milk

Preparation:

Place the onions, celery and carrots in a large oven proof skillet and saute in the olive oil and butter until tender. Add the rest of the ingredients except the parsley and cream. Let come to a simmering boil and cook for about 10 minutes on low. Add the cream and let cook for 4 minutes to thicken a little. Taste the gravy for seasonings and add salt and pepper if desired. Don’t worry if you find the gravy a little watery at first because the dumplings will thicken it as they cook in the pan. Add the parsley and reduce heat to low while you make the dumplings.

Meanwhile:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Prepare Dumplings:

Mix the Bisquick with milk to form a thick dough.  Drop the dough with a tablespoon carefully and evenly into the simmering chicken and vegetables. Cook for about 5 minutes on low heat.

Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the dumplings are light golden brown on top and fully cooked. Please note: Every oven cooks differently so you the pie may take less time or longer to cook. Lift up one of the dumplings and look underneath to see if they are cooked through.