Chicken and Corn Pie

I felt like making a pot pie, and this turned into a pantry meal.  The crust was left over from the venison pie.  Well, most of it was.  I rolled together all the pastry scraps in the freezer to make sure I had enough for a top crust.  95% sure the one labeled "buckwheat" was pastry dough and not pasta.  Close enough.

I had the chicken in the freezer.  The canned corn was originally for a lasagna, but I had too many ingredients for that and it would have overflowed the pan.  And then, I decided to use the other can of Cream of Bacon soup for the gravy part of the pie.  Add some basic onion, celery from the garden, and herbs and spices, and a pie was born.

You don't have to use a hot water crust for this.  Regular pastry is fine if it isn't going to be a standing pie, even roll-out crust from the refrigerated section.  Actually, you don't have to make it a pie at all.  It can be a stew alongside biscuits, or ladled over them...wish I'd thought of that before making this a pie.

1/2 lb pastry dough (pate brisee is a good choice)
*2 C shredded or canned chicken
1 Tb oil
1/2 C diced onion
*1 rib celery, diced
*1 can Cream of Bacon soup (or any other Cream of...)
*1 14 oz can kernel corn, drained
pepper and dried parsley to taste

1.  Heat oil in a large saucepan.  Cook onion and celery over medium heat until softened.

2.  Stir in chicken, corn, and canned soup.  Cook until heated through.  Taste and add pepper and dried parsley to taste.  Highly doubt you'll need more salt.  There's tons in the soup.

3.  While the stew is cooking, roll out the pastry dough to 1/8".  Line either an 8" pie tin or a 6" springform and place on a baking sheet in case of leaks.  Preheat oven to 375º.

4.  Fill crust with the stew.  Roll out a top crust and place on top.  Crimp to seal and cut vents.  Make sure the crust is firmly against the filling below to reduce an air gap forming.  If desired, brush with egg wash.

5.  Bake 45-50 minutes, until the crust is baked and golden.  The filling is cooked.  You just need to bake the crust.

6.  If you made a springform, allow the pie to rest about 15 minutes before releasing.  Serve pie hot.

Serves 4-6

Difficulty rating  :)