chicken piccata pot pie

an easy skillet pot pie with the bright, briny flavors of chicken piccata

the golden light of the oven shining on the pot pie; not my favorite photo ever, but hey, it’s dark at like 4PM now so we make do with what we have

with this recipe, the name pretty much says it all. it’s chicken piccata meets chicken pot pie and it all happens in a single skillet. it’s lemony and briny, it’s full of winter veg and shredded chicken, and it’s really comforting and tasty. if you like chicken piccata and you like chicken pot pie, i absolutely understand why you ended up here and i hope you enjoy this recipe.

against my own wishes (ironic, i know), the recipe calls for cooked shredded chicken. generally, i would always prefer to include the cooking of everything used in a recipe in the recipe itself, but i opted not to here because i personally love using a bought rotisserie chicken for this; the bones of which can then be turned into stock, so it’s a win win. i got mine from my favorite local chicken shop, but if you don’t have a favorite local chicken shop or access to any grocery store rotisserie chickens, then definitely feel free to buy and roast your own for this recipe; you can also use simply poached chicken breasts or leftover chicken, it’s really up to you.

if you don’t want to use chicken at all in this recipe, you could sub in more potatoes and kale or even add in some other vegetables like carrots, leeks or celery. even some canned chickpeas or white beans would probably be great in this.

before and after, featuring my apparently spotty pastry brushing "skills"

one more note i’m adding at the behest of my partner: if you, like him, are not a quote-unquote lemon person (like, a person who likes lemon flavored things, preserved lemons, et cetera), then you can definitely scale back on them here and leave out the slices cooked into the filling. i added a little bit of sugar to mellow out any bitterness from the lemon rind and pith, and while i was personally really happy with the flavor and texture, my partner was a bit skeptical and gave me his feedback, “good, but i would prefer without the lemon slices.” lol! so feel free to adapt it with that in mind if you wish, but also know that the main flavors—bright, punchy lemon and briny, mustardy capers—are indeed by design.

---

serves 4 - 6

2 shallots

2 cloves garlic

2 small lemons

200 grams potatoes

175 grams tuscan or curly kale (substitute: fresh spinach)

20 grams parsley

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for the pastry

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

150 grams frozen peas

2 tablespoons capers (if you don’t love the briny, mustardy taste of capers, you can use 1 tablespoon instead and still get a bit of their flavor but not have it be too full on)

2 tablespoons flour

100 ml white wine (optional; you can also use more broth instead if desired)

375 ml chicken broth (substitute: vegetable broth)

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

250 grams cooked shredded chicken

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

1 sheet thawed puff pastry (substitute: 1 pie crust, about 600 grams)

flour for dusting

1. peel and thinly slice shallots and garlic. zest and juice one lemon. trim the ends from the other lemon and thinly slice, removing any seeds from the slices as you go. chop potatoes into bite-size pieces. remove the kale leaves from the stems and roughly chop. remove the parsley leaves from the thicker stems and mince.

2. melt butter and oil in a 26 cm/10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat; if you don’t have a cast iron skillet, use any similar size oven safe skillet. once melted, add shallots, garlic, most of the thinly sliced lemon (reserve 3 or 5 slices for the top decoration, if desired) and salt and cook until everything is softened, about 5 minutes. add potatoes and kale and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the kale is wilted and the potatoes are just shy of fork tender (you should have to apply slight pressure on a fork or knife to slide into a piece of potato), about 8 - 10 minutes.

3. preheat oven to 200°C/400°F. add frozen peas, capers and parsley and mix everything to combine. add flour and cook out until the flour is coating everything evenly and starts to stick to the bottom of the pan. add white wine and use your spoon or spatula to scrape up any bits on the bottom of the pan, then add chicken broth, lemon juice and zest and mustard and let cook until the sauce is bubbly and thickened, about 5 minutes. add chicken and mix through, then taste and season with salt, black pepper and sugar. remove from the heat and set aside.

4. roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface until about 0.6cm/1/4-inch thick and larger in diameter than your skillet. fold into quarters or roll onto a rolling pin and transfer to the top of the skillet. unfold and trim to the edges of the skillet. crimp or fork the edges, then use a sharp knife to pierce a few slits into the center to let steam escape while baking. decorate with lemon slices, then brush the entire pastry (and lemon slices) with some olive oil and bake for 30 - 35 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown all over and you can see the filling bubbling up through the slits or around the edges. remove from the oven and serve immediately.