Sara, why are you making pot pies in the middle of the summer? Well, I’d say that the surprise success of my first pot pie recipe (Spicy Mushroom Chicken Pot Pie) back in May–when it was still sensibly chilly–got me inordinately excited about savory pies.
They are so easy! Especially with a forgiving pie dough like the one used here. There is something utterly satisfying about pulling a golden brown, bubbling pie from the oven even when it is 95 degrees outside. And then there’s the anticipation of breaking into the pie, the joy to see that the bottom crust did, in fact, cook all the way through.
I remain astonished by how great these little pies look and taste, and I can’t wait for fall when it will be sane to cook them all the time. I found several more recipes–some of which are included at the bottom of this post–and am looking forward to trying new flavor combos like sausage-apple-cheddar and chicken-spinach-cauliflower. I’m pretty sure the Kale and Sausage Hand Pies recipe below uses the same dough as these, so they are probably up next. Yum!
Sausage Pot Pie
Serves 2-4 depending on how hungry you are
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 link sweet and 1 link hot italian sausage, uncased
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, small dice
- 2 stalks celery, small dice
- 1 medium carrot, small dice
- 2 sprigs thyme, stems removed and roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/4 cup dry Vermouth (or dry white wine)
- 1/4 cup pale ale beer (we used Flying Fish Hopfish IPA)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup small broccoli florets
- 2 parts pie dough from 1 recipe Easy Savory Pie Crust
- 1 tablespoon flour (more or less) for rolling out crusts
- 1 large egg, beaten
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Make the dough for your pie crust at least 1 hour before you start. Keep it chilled until about 5 minutes before you need to roll it out.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
Make the Filling
Brown the sausages in the oil over medium heat. I flattened the uncased sausages, as you can see in the photo above, so they would cook quickly, evenly, and have maximum browning (i.e. deliciousness). Remove the browned sausages from the pan and set aside.
Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot, and thyme to the hot pan and sauté until the onions just become translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add a little more oil if needed. Remember to season along the way with salt and pepper.
Turn the heat to low, add the butter, and sprinkle the flour over the vegetables. Stir and cook continuously until the flour/butter becomes light brown. You want a light roux, be sure not to let it burn.
As soon as the roux reaches that light brown color, add the vermouth and beer. Turn up the heat and stir and scrape until all of the yummy stuck on bits (the fond) is well incorporated into the liquid.
Add the frozen peas and broccoli florets. Break the sausages into bite-sized chunks and add these back to the pan as well. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. If the filling is too wet, turn down the heat and let it cook off slowly while you roll out your pie crusts. If it’s dry, add a splash more beer. Otherwise, turn off the heat, cover the pan, and get rolling!
Rollout the Crusts & Make the Pies
Please note: I used two CORNINGWARE® French White® 20-oz Appetizer Dishes for these pies, so I took 2 parts of Easy Savory Pie Crust and broke each in half (to have 4 sections for this recipe).
Sprinkle your counter with flour and roll out 1 section to about 1/8 of an inch thick to fit the bottom and up the sides of your baking dish. It is OK if the crust doesn’t fit perfectly (mine didn’t) because you are going to seal the crust to itself or to the dish. Lay the rolled-out dough into your dish, lightly pressing it into the corners and up the insides of the dish. Repeat for the bottom of the second pie.
Pour the filling equally into each pie dish. Mound it up because it will cook down.
Roll out the last two sections (the tops) and lay these over the filling in each pie. Pinch together the top and bottom crusts along the edges. If the edges don’t match up exactly, just tuck them in and pinch the dough to the dish instead. Brush the tops and edges of each pie with the egg wash and make three 3/4 inch slits in the top of each with a sharp knife.
Bake for about one hour until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling inside. Let the pie cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before serving.
Other Good-Looking Sausage Pie Recipes from Around the Web:
Italian Spinach Sausage Pie from allrecipes.com
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