ROASTED VEGETABLES AND CHICKEN POT PIE

Of all the one dish meals I make this one is hands done my absolute favorite.   It is this recipe for ROASTED VEGETABLE AND CHICKEN POT PIE I go to when I really want to wow family and friends.  It tells them how important they are to me.

The secret is the way the vegetables are prepared.    They  are roasted deeply golden and take on a sweet caramelized flavour.  They colour and flavour the glorious, rich  sauce .  The sauce seductively cloaks the succulent chicken.  Then the buttery, crisp puff pastry sublimely tops everything .

You can assemble the pie (except for the crust) ahead of time.  This makes it the perfect entertaining dish.  For large groups the recipe is easily doubled and baked in two dishes.  This is a stellar one dish wonder.  It takes chicken pot pie to delicious new heights.     The puff pastry is courtesy the frozen food counter so how deliciously easy is that.  Comfort food at its finest.  Pop over to MRS BUTTERFINGERS kitchen for   ROAST CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE POT PIE

SOPPRESSATA AND CHEESE IN PUFF PASTRY

If you want an appetizer that will WOW the crowd this is the one.   It is nothing short of spectacular.  It is a creation of my absolute favorite cookbook writer, The Barefoot Contessa.

It has just three main ingredients,  frozen  puff pastry,  soppressata (a spicy Italian salami) and Gruyere cheese.

It goes together faster than you can drink a glass of Shiraz.

Serves 6 for the first course, 8 for cocktails.

1 package (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry defrosted (do this in the fridge early in the day)

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

12 thin (not paper thin) slices soppressata salami (3 1’2 inches in diameter)

6 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated

l egg beaten with l tablespoon water, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Place a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan.

Lay one sheet  of puff pastry on a floured board and lightly roll into a 10-inch square.  Place it on the sheet pan and brush the pastry with all the mustard, leaving a 1 inch border.  Arrange the soppressata in overlapping layers on the mustard and sprinkle the grated cheese evenly on the soppressata, also avoid the border.  Brush the border with the egg wash.

Lightly roll the second piece of puff pastry into a 10 inch  square.  Lay the pastry directly on top of the first square, lining up the edges.  Brush the top with the egg wash, cut three large slits for steam to escape, and chill for 15 minutes in the fridge.

When the pastry is cold, trim the edges with a very sharp knife to make a clean edge.  Bake the pastry in the center of the oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes, turning once while baking, until puffed and brown.  Watch carefully during the last minutes of baking as the pastry can become brown very quickly.  Allow to cool for a few minutes, cut in squares, and serve hot or warm.

Now nibble with another glass of wine.  Bon Appetit.