Freezer Chicken Pot Pies (ATK)

• doses: 6

Ingredientes

1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

5½ cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium onion, chopped fine

3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

1 celery rib, chopped fine

½ cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 (15-ounce) boxes Pillsbury Ready to Roll Pie Crust (see note)

1 large egg, beaten, plus 1 large egg, beaten, for baking

1½ cups frozen peas

Instruções

1. To make ahead: Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large Dutch oven over high heat until just smoking. Cook chicken until well browned, about 2½ minutes per side. Add broth and bring to boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until chicken is cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate and strain broth into bowl.

2. Melt butter with remaining 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook onion, carrots, celery, and ¼ teaspoon salt until lightly browned and softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add flour, and cook 1 minute. Whisk in reserved broth, milk, and thyme and simmer until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, using 2 forks, shred chicken into bite-sized pieces. Off heat, add chicken and lemon juice to sauce and season with salt and pepper. Transfer filling to medium bowl and cool until just warm. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour.

4. Unwrap and unroll pie crusts onto lightly floured counter. Following photos at left, glue 2 crusts together using 1 beaten egg. Repeat with remaining 2 crusts. Cut out 6 pastry toppings. Stir frozen peas into cold filling and divide mix- ture among six 2-cup disposable aluminum loaf pans. Top with pastry and use fork to seal edges. Using paring knife, make 3 steam vents in each crust. Tightly wrap each loaf pan in 2 layers of plastic wrap and 1 layer of aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 2 months.

5. When ready to serve: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Unwrap frozen pot pies and arrange on rimmed baking sheet. Brush crusts with egg, cover with foil, and bake 40 minutes. Uncover and bake until crusts are golden brown, about 35 minutes. Let pot pies rest 10 minutes before serving.

Notas

To preserve their color, don't thaw the peas before using. Each box of pie dough contains 2 crusts; you will use all 4 crusts for this recipe.

A Freezer-Worthy Filling When we tried freezing standard chicken pot pie recipes, the filling baked up too dry. Our solution was to make the filling extra saucy—but this only works if you freeze the pot pies.

FROZEN THEN BAKED Our saucy filling can withstand freezing and emerges rich and creamy from the oven.

BAKED WITHOUT FREEZING If baked right away, our saucy filling creates a soupy mess.

A saucy filling and double-thick crust are the secrets to a pot pie that can be successfully frozen before baking.

How to Make INDIVIDUAL POT PIES

1. Brush pie crust with beaten egg. 2. Place a second crust over egg-washed dough. 3. Use a disposable alu- minum pan turned upside down to cut out 3 pastry toppings from double- thick pie dough. Repeat with 2 more pie crusts. 4. Place 1 piece of pastry over the filling in each pan and use a fork to seal the edges.