These pot pies are perfect for a crisp October evening! I was inspired by last month's issue of "Coastal Living" and came up with two options that both turned out fabulous. I left out the traditional pot pie ingredient of green peas because I'm not a fan, but feel free to add those in if you love them! The magazine recommends the addition of lemon zest and seafood seasoning, but with fresh Dungeness crab I really don't like to add things that mask the beautiful flavor of the crab itself. Dungeness isn't your average "lump crabmeat" - we're lucky!
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped leeks or celery
- 1 cup chopped carrot
- 1 ½ cups chopped potato
- 1 cup chopped onion or shallots
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 T butter
- 2 T flour
- 2 cups broth, stock or clam juice
- 12 oz crab meat
- Pie crust or bread
In a large pan with a lid, melt your butter and add the vegetables. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes to soften with a bit of salt and pepper. Sprinkle the flour over the cooked vegetables and cook for about 1 more minute while stirring to create a dry roux. Slowly add the broth to make a nice creamy mixture, then cover and reduce your heat to low. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
Turn your burner off, turn your oven on 375 and stir in the crabmeat. Spoon the mixture into a baking dish or pot pie ramekins (give yourself enough room at the top so that it doesn't bubble over too badly in the oven!) and top with pie crust.
Cut 3 slits in the pie crust to vent and bake for 25 minutes. Switch your oven to broil for 1-2 minutes more at the very end to attractively brown your pie crust and then let sit for a few minutes to cool before serving. Delish!
As an alternative to pie crust, you can also make these sort of "French onion soup style" by chopping up a few slices of bread and topping with that. Bake them for the 25 minutes and then sprinkle a bit of cheese over the bread and broil for a minute to melt. I made these both ways and Tony couldn't decide which one was better - equally fabulous is always a good thing!
