Ingredients:
1 cup frozen Lima beans
1 cup peeled, diced Russet potatoes
1 bunch kale, chopped
1/2 cup flour
1 carrot, cut into coins
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 parsnips, cut into coins
1 onion, diced
3 tablespoons butter
3 cups cubed, smoked turkey breast*
2 1/2 cups chicken stock or turkey stock
1 3/4 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 egg, beaten
salt
freshly ground black pepper
puff pastry (if using defrosted frozen, you will only need one sheet)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Melt the butter in a large skillet with high sides, a large saucepan or a stove top and oven safe 2-quart casserole. Add the onion, garlic, parsnip, celery, carrots, Lima beans, potatoes, and kale. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent.
Stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the milk, bay leaf, and stock. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces and thickens a bit, about 10-15 minutes. Fish out the bay leaf. Add the turkey, herbs and spices. Stir to evenly distribute all ingredients. Cook for 2 minutes. Divide into large, oven-safe ramekins or pour into a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Leave 1/4 to 1/2 inch of room at the top.
Top with a layer of puff pastry. Pierce with a knife. Brush with egg. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.
*Store-bought or homemade
My thoughts:
I bought this whole, smoked Butterball turkey ages ago at Aldi and stuck in the small extra freezer we have in our basement. It sat there forever because we never had room in the fridge to defrost it. One of the only lucky things to come out of the fridge breaking and throwing out all of our food is that we now have tons of space because we have no food. So I defrosted the turkey (and transferred all the frozen stuff from the basement into the fridge freezer and defrosted that so I have that to fill too!) on the empty shelf. I didn’t really know what to expect but it was really good! It was super moist and juicy (there were even enough juices in the cavity to make a quick turkey stock with!) and while smoky, it wasn’t overpowering.
One of our favorite things to do with smoked turkey legs is make greens and while I had kale from my produce box order, I wanted to make something different with it. So I came up with the idea to combine greens and another favorite way to use up cooked poultry; pot pie! OMG, it was so good! Creamy without being too rich, savory and smoky and just really really good. Normally I put peas in my pot pie but since I was going Southern-inspired, I used Lima beans instead. They held up really well and added to the “packed with vegetables” pot pie I was going for. I hate having to make a side dish after making a time-consuming recipe so the more vegetables, the better! We have been so busy this summer it was good to get back into the kitchen with my partner in marriage and crime and make a fun meal! Pot pies are simple to make but time consuming so leave yourself more time than you’d think for the prep.
