17 Comfort Foods For Deep Winter

MCLEAN, VA-June 27: The chicken pot pie comes out of the oven at America Eats Tavern in the Tyson’s Ritz-Carlton, McLean, VA. (Photo by Scott Suchman/For the Washington Post)

15. Pot pie

A pot pie is a kind of pastry that’s usually made with meat and topped with a flakey, buttery crust. In Europe, it was a popular dish, though it experienced an especially big revival during the 16th century. People then went kind of nuts, consuming pies, pasties, and other concoctions throughout the land.

During the reign of Elizabeth I, British cooks created dishes using “peepers”, small birds stuffed with gooseberries. One incredibly ambitious recipe called for five birds to be stuffed inside each other, and then wrapped in dough. At least now you know that the turducken isn’t a modern travesty.

Now, you don’t have to go crazy with the meats to enjoy a delicious pot pie. You could make a simple chicken potpie, the favorite recipe of many home cooks throughout the United States and beyond. You don’t even need meat. I’ve made a tofu pot pie with crispy tofu bits and lots of veggies that any carnivore would enjoy (if I do say so myself).

This is another dish that is especially good for all the scraps and bits of things you’ve got lying around in your fridge. Perhaps, like me, you got really ambitious and signed up for a CSA box that brings you a weekly flood of vegetables. Maybe you’re staring at leftovers from the holidays and will scream if you’re forced to make another sandwich.

It’s super easy. Saute some ingredients, maybe make a creamy sauce, plop the whole thing in an oven-safe dish, cover with pastry, and cook. You don’t even have to make the pastry (though it’s easier than you think, I promise). A roll of puff pastry from your grocery’s freezer section works just fine.

Recipe: Chicken Pot Pie (Ina Garten)

Healthy variation: Vegan tofu and vegetable pot pie (The Kitchn)