For the crust:
1/2 cup butter spread (NOT light), cut into pea-size pieces (recommended: Smart Balance)
1 (8-ounce) container reduced fat cream cheese, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups GF all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading (recommended: King Arthur)
1 1/2 teaspoons guar gum
Pinch kosher salt
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 to 2 tablespoons cold water, if needed
For the filling:
GF cooking spray
1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 ribs celery, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large or 2 small carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 large sprig rosemary
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 rotisserie chicken, skin and bones removed, meat shredded
4 cups unsalted chicken stock (recommended: Kitchen Basics)
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 cup no salt added peas (recommended: Le Sueur)
4 tablespoons light butter spread (recommended: Smart Balance)
4 tablespoons GF all-purpose flour (recommended: King Arthur)
1/4 cup egg substitute beaten with 2 tablespoons of water, for egg wash
I have always been a huge fan of pot pies. Even those cheap ones in the frozen section of the grocery store would put a smile on my face. It was the easiest way to get vegetables in me as a kid. Well, now that I’m an adult a bowl of yummy gravy topped by buttery pastry isn’t exactly on my diet – and the crust is sure to wreck my gluten free diet, so this was a no go… until now
I use a rotisserie chicken, but feel free to use sauteed chicken breasts if you want. With recipes that are a little more involved like this one, I enjoy taking the rotisserie chicken shortcut, but if you want it completely from scratch, be my guest!
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DIRECTIONS
To make the crust:
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the butter, cream cheese, flour, guar gum and salt. Pulse until the ingredients start to come together. Add the egg and pulse a couple of more times until the ingredients completely combine, being careful not to overmix. The dough will be wet and that’s OK. It is gluten free, so don’t expect it to pulse into a ball like most doughs. It’ll taste and look fine in the end and that’s what’s important!
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead it a couple of times to help it come together. Dust it with flour, form it into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use. This can be done a day ahead. When ready to use the dough, remove it from the refrigerator about 20 minutes before rolling, to allow it to warm up and soften.
To make the filling:
Spray a wide bottomed pot and put over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, mushrooms, carrots and herbs and sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Saute the vegetables for 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and sweat for another 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt, then add the chicken stock. Bring the stock to a boil, over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the stock and put into a large bowl, leaving the herbs in the pot.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and stir to combine with melted butter. Cook stirring frequently until the mixture is the consistency of wet sand and is starting to turn a little beige, about 2-3 minutes. Gradually whisk in the reserved chicken stock, one ladle at a time until roux is completely incorporated. Add roux-stock mixture to the rest of the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until it has a gravy-like consistency, about 20 to 25 minutes. If the gravy reduces too much and becomes too thick, whisk in a little more chicken stock or water. Check seasonings. When finished , remove herbs and bay leaf.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine chicken and peas with vegetable mixture. Add the chicken mixture into 4 individual (2 cup) crocks. Ladle the “gravy” over the chicken mixture until the dish(s) are 3/4 filled.
Dust a clean work surface with flour and cut the dough into four equal portions. Roll out dough until it is just large enough to cover the individual casserole dishes. (Overhang may fall off during baking.) Brush the outside edges of the dish with a little of the egg wash to help “glue” the dough to sides of the dish. Fold the edges of the dough under and press it onto the edges of the dish. Brush the top of the dough with the remaining egg wash. Cut a couple of vents in the top of the dough to allow the steam to escape.
Bake in the preheated oven until the dough is golden brown and the inside is hot and bubbly, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve hot.
Here’s the skinny:
First, I cut out the butter and used butter spreads. I used a regular butter spread for the crust and a light spread for the roux. You need the extra fat in the crust or else it tastes kinda nasty. I always have both types on hand because different recipes need more fat than others. However, you can use the regular spread in the roux if you don’t want two containers of butter in your fridge.
I also used a reduced fat cream cheese. Again, you need the fat. Trust me – I tried the fat free version and I didn’t like it at all. Splurge on a little fat here. You’re saving enough elsewhere to make up for it.
Instead of eggs, I use egg substitute. With egg washes and doughs, it makes no difference whatseover, but you are saving almost 500mg of cholesterol in the process.
I used a spray instead of coating a big pot in oil, saving almost 500 calories and over 50 grams of fat.
Lastly, to cut out sodium, I used no salt added peas and unsalted stock. You need to do that because the reduced fat products add a little extra sodium than their full fat counterparts.
To make it gluten free, all I did was use some GF all-purpose flour and guar gum. It was a super simple substitution.
ENJOY!
CALORIES SAVED: 1304
FAT SAVED: 156g
SATURATED FAT SAVED: 82g
CHOLESTEROL SAVED: 922mg
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