Turkey Pot Pies

So here's the pay off from the roasted turkey.  In the years I've been making these, I've learned the two most important things are the gravy or sauce in the pies and the vegetable to meat ratio. For purely our own consumption, I would have used single serving ramekins and placed a sheet of puff pastry on top.  But these pies are going to travel to a few of my family members, so the pie tin works best for freezing and hitting the road.  A few years ago when we had a snow storm followed by a deep freeze here in Seattle, my Sister's family lost power for several days.  I sent them home with some frozen pot pies which they were able to cook in their fireplace.  Cute!  as my sister would say.


I'm leaving out the measurements as I did not measure, but took enough photos that perhaps would give a good idea of proportions.  But here's a list of ingredients.


Ready made pie shells in tins.  I purchased these at Big John's PFI.  They have a variety of sizes in both pie and tart.  
Puff Pastry sheets.  Also purchased from PFI.
Turkey - cut into 1/2' chunks
Carrots
Celery, I use the tender core of the celery and use the leaves as well
Sweet onions
Baby peas
Fresh Sage
Dried Thyme leaves
Gravy - as described on yesterday's post on roast turkey.  I will add that I had A LOT of turkey stock which I boiled at a rolling boil to condense until I felt the stock was rich enough.  To the gravy I added a splash of brandy and let it boil for bit.

Saute the onions until slightly softened.  Then add the carrots and saute until they are slightly softened.  Then add the celery until they are softened.  Incorporate the turkey, thyme, sage and lastly the peas.  Add the gravy to the mixture, stir to combine.  Be liberal with the gravy.  You need more than you think.. especially if you are freezing.  I did not cook the filling after adding the gravy.  Once the gravy was added, I let the mixture cool down before filling the pies.  

Pre-bake the pie shells until just starting to golden, about 10 minutes at 400f.  Let cool completely.  Fill each pie shell and cover with a square piece of puff pastry.  I used to cut out rounds and make them fit perfectly over.  But no wanting to waste, and taking an easier route, I decided to just cut them into squares.

Make a few slits on top of each puff pastry to allow steam to escape when baking.  Brush with an egg wash before baking.   Since I was going to freeze mine, I did not do this.  Bake the pies at 400f for 30-45 minutes.  Everything is cooked inside, so really, you just want to have the puff pastry puff and golden properly.  I love inventory!