Some recipes use puff pastry, but I feel the pastry gets a bit gummy on the bottom. I use either homemade or store bought pie crust and much prefer the final product. Another option is to cut the crust into shapes and bake them alone, then serve the chicken ingredients with the crust either placed on top or alongside.
2 cups chicken either cooked OR raw (see additional note if using raw), diced
1 carrot, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
1 cup onion, rough chopped OR 4 or 5 pearl onions
1 or 2 mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 cup chicken stock
1 tsp cornstarch or potato starch and 1 Tbl water
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 pie crust
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: chopped parsley or tarragon
If using raw chicken, take 1 cup of water or chicken stock and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the chicken and simmer for 20 minutes until cooked through. Use this chicken and the stock in the pie.
Put the stock in a saucepan and add carrot, cook for 5 minutes then add the onion and mushroom. Cook another 5 to 10 minutes until vegetables are mostly soft. Thicken the stock with starch mixed in the water to create a slurry and add to the stock until desired thickness. You can also add fresh chopped parsley or tarragon now if you wish.
Add chicken, peas, and cream. Cook to warm.
If you wish, you can now either make into a pie by transferring the filling to a pie plate, topping with the pie crust and brushing the top with beaten egg if desired. Cook to done per piecrust instructions.
OR
You can serve this alone, maybe over rice or potatoes if you wish. OR Cook the pie crust by itself, like cookies, and serve with the creamed chicken.
