Bring Chicken Pot Pie And Spanakopita Together For An Ultra-Comforting Dinner
Our latest when-worlds-collide culinary fusion is here to elevate your pot pie. This tip comes from Tasting Table recipe developer Michelle McGlinn, who merged two beloved comfort food classics in this Spinach and Feta Chicken Pot Pie recipe. Greek spanakopita meets American chicken pot pie in this mashup. The chicken pot pie elements of puff pastry and the general shape of the pie crust fuse with the spanakopita filling elements of spinach and feta.
If you've never tried it before, spanakopita is a traditional Greek dish of spinach pie wrapped in multi-layered phyllo dough and cut into finger-sandwich-sized triangles. Phyllo dough is an ultra-thin, crispy dough that comes in see-through sheets. To turn it into the flaky, buttery crust for spanakopita, those delicate sheets must be individually brushed with melted butter and stacked on top of each other. It's an involved process, to say the least -- and, in this case, phyllo dough simply cannot hold the structural body of a reimagined chicken pot pie. Puff pastry, on the other hand, comes laminated, meaning it's made with butter already folded into the dough, which naturally creates multiple layers of dough and butter, no extra labor required. To bring the traditional spanakopita vibes and keep the structural integrity of your pot pie intact, pack spinach and feta into the filling, but use refrigerated puff pastry dough for the crust.
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Highly-Customizable And Highly Flaky And Buttery
For ultra-quick prep on a busy weeknight, you could use canned chicken for the pot pie filling, or even make the filling ahead of time and freeze it for a comforting, impressive, effortless make-ahead meal. Plus, this recipe calls for store-bought refrigerated puff pastry dough, which means you can leave the flour in the pantry and ditch the from-scratch crust. Although, to stay true to the flaky, buttery phyllo dough that inspired this avant-garde dish, brush your puff pastry pot pie crust with an egg wash before popping it in the oven for extra golden lushness.
To make the pot pie filling, boil chicken, spinach, feta, and milk together into a thick pudding-like consistency in a saucepan. Salty sheep's milk feta will provide the boldest, tangiest, spanakopita-esque flavor. You could use fresh baby spinach leaves or -- in true spanakopita fashion -- pre-cooked, frozen chopped spinach. After defrosting, grab a few paper towels and squeeze out as much moisture as possible from the spinach.
Spanakopita filling also often includes flavorful, aromatic herbs like dill, and scallions. Feel free to toss these into your pot pie filling, as well. Sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil could be a killer addition, too. For extra Mediterranean culinary flair, you could also swap out the shredded chicken for pulled lamb shoulder. To complete the meal, serve your spanakopita-inspired pot pie with fresh chickpea salad or sliced cucumbers in tzatziki sauce.
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