Chicken Pot... Pie?
I'm going to be blatantly honest: I am genuinely culinarily challenged. No, seriously. I have nearly sliced and diced off the tips of my fingers, I have been burned and bruised by pots and pans, all for the sake of a grumbling tummy. It's battery at 350-degrees. So with this being my first meal (I made by myself) that didn't come out of a freezer box, that's something ya'll. So, was it perfect? Nope, but it was delicious. So let's get to it.
So this recipe for chicken pot pie pizza is inspired by Cooking Light, however, I revamped it to fit my own taste. I think, though I'm no culinary expert, that starting out with recipes and tweaking them to fit your personal preference is a great way to start understanding flavors, and what goes well together, and how they merry in each bite.
Ingredients:
-Rotisserie chicken to shred or boiled chicken breast to shred (It would be cheaper to boil and season your own chicken, but I went ahead and bought a rotisserie chicken.)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup chopped carrots ( I used baby carrots, because I like to make my life difficult).
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped onion (white or yellow) (I added an extra half cup because my family loves onion flavor-- like I said before, tweak to fit your own personal preference. Experiment!)
- 1 tsp. Thyme
- 1 tsp. Parsley (I used dried, but fresh I'm sure would be quite tasty as well!)
- 1 1/2 tbsp. flour
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/8 tsp. Kosher salt
- 1 tbsp. garlic powder
- 9 tbsp. butter
- 1 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese (I used more cheese. It's a pizza, it's blasphemous to not use at least a cup and a half.)
1/2 cup of milk
- 1 can of biscuits for the crust (do NOT be me and think a pizza crust will be good. Don't try to cut corners. The crust will be too dense and hard to chew from my experience. Get the biscuits, people.)
Directions:
**Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit**
- Take a table spoon of butter and coat 8 or 10 inch cast iron pan, then press the biscuit to be 1/2 inch thick, and press it up the sides of the pan.
- Melt 2 tbsp. butter and mix with garlic powder and coat over the top of the biscuits. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove it from the oven.
- Cook onion, carrot and celery over a medium heat until the vegetables soften. I used 2 tbsp. butter so they don't stick. Season with S &P, and add in the Thyme.
- Add another tablespoon of butter and sprinkle four over the veggies. Cook until it becomes a paste. Add milk and whisk for 3-5 minutes. Add the frozen peas and 1/3 of the cheese, whisking until it becomes creamy, cheesy perfection.
**Don't forget to taste as you go. This is the part where you add what you think it needs more of. If you like garlic, toss in some more garlic. If you think it needs more thyme, sprinkle it in!**
- Pour creamy vegetable mixture over the biscuit crust and smooth it evenly. Top shredded chicken on top and add more cheese. Bake until cheese is melted.
- Garnish with parsley and thyme.
- Slice and serve!
Okay, so this was a recipe that I learned so much from, and I made many, many mistakes (like almost chopping off the end of my finger). The first thing I learned is to not cut corners. Every step is necessary when you're just starting out on your culinary endeavors. What hindered the taste experience for my pizza was that I messed up the crust. If you want it to be on actual pizza crust, then I recommend putting the pizza on a pizza pan or pizza stone and bake it, so the crust will be crisp and have room to rise.
The second thing that I learned is that creating a dinner is like conducting a symphony: you have to pay attention to all sides, all pieces, ALL at once. What I should have done was have everything chopped and ready to go before I started cooking. But you live and you learn, right?
All in all, it was a tasty dish, and paired with a nice salad it will make it to the repeat list.
Happy cooking!
