Published October 29, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.
In my family, we love Thanksgiving food — juicy turkey, tender stuffing, tangy cranberry sauce, creamy mashed potatoes, crunchy green beans, and subtly sweet roasted squash. Every year, I look for interesting ways to use the abundant leftovers once the main event is over.
After watching The Great British Baking Show, I became enamored with the idea of making a turkey pot pie with hot-water crust pastry, which traditionally calls for a mixture of butter and lard. (I substituted solid vegetable shortening for the lard because I was unable to find the lard locally.) A mixture of bread flour, which has extra gluten, and all-purpose flour helps give the pastry its sturdy texture.
This crust breaks so many "known" pastry rules. Keep everything as cold as possible? Instead, this recipe relies upon working with it hot, before it becomes too crumbly. While most pastry gets tough when you work it too much, hot-water crust pastry is very forgiving and can be kneaded and pressed into a pan (as long as you work quickly, so it doesn't get too cool). You can even patch broken bits without much trouble. Finally, the crust comes out sturdy, so you can use heavier and wetter fillings without it falling apart. As a bonus, it keeps its shape when you take it out of the pan, which is great for presentation.
Use whatever leftovers you like in this pie, or go a nontraditional route and serve up this fun, layered dish as a Thanksgiving day main course. For this version, I made the fillings just for the pie — simple, oven-roasted turkey breast with a delectable combination of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme; butternut squash; and creamy mashed potatoes. If you have homemade stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce on hand, by all means, use them. I took the easy route and used store-bought versions of those components.
The pie would also be excellent with Brussels sprouts, mashed root vegetables in place of mashed potatoes, or maybe even leftover green bean casserole with crunchy fried onions.
I made a couple of versions of this pie, one in a 4-inch deep, 9-inch round tart pan, and one in a loaf pan. We all preferred the loaf pan; its depth made for great layers and it was easier to slice. Definitely don't skip the parchment paper sling, which creates "handles" to lift the finished product out of the pan.
Top this dish with extra cranberry sauce and warm gravy, or enjoy it cold in place of a routine turkey sandwich, and you'll be the envy of your coworkers.
Hot-Water Crust Pastry:
Filling:
This article was originally published in Seven Days' monthly parenting magazine, Kids VT.
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