Sometimes, it pays to just not worry about being fancy for dinner. Get the right people to your house (Emma, in this case). Serve some delicious cocktails. Cook up one decent thing to eat, and sit on the couch, catching up, eating that one decent thing, sipping on your drinks. It makes for a good night.
I usually make a pretty good cocktail, and that plus Emma’s company is pretty much enough to make for a fun, relaxing evening. But we were hungry, so the one decent thing I threw together were these delicious little pot pies.
The filling is pretty simple, and can be modified to whatever you have on hand. I happened to have pancetta, white beans, and chard, so that’s what I used. The sauce is a simple veloute, something I’ve now made approximately one million times in culinary school. A roux-thickened chicken broth – it’s genius and so versatile.
The pastry lids are super easy to make and are so flaky, they shatter right in your mouth. It’s hard to believe it didn’t take hours to make or that it didn’t include wrapping up a block of butter in pastry dough. The secret is a bit of sour cream or yogurt, which adds tang and richness, plus a bit of vinegar to keep the dough tender. It’s now my go-to quick pot pie dough.
- Pancetta, White Bean & Swiss Chard Pot Pies (Smitten Kitchen)
