Our pot pies have a thick and rich filling – full of chicken, carrots, celery, onions, and seasoned with tarragon and parsley. To top it off in festive style, we used a buttery and crunchy puff pastry pumpkin face.

INGREDIENTS
1 box puff pastry (Dufour or Pepperidge Farm)
2 cups of boxed unsalted chicken stock
½ cup carrots, peeled and diced
½ cup celery, diced
2 cups diced onion
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1 clove of garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press
2 tablespoons of white wine
2 cups of cooked, cubed chicken breasts
¾ cup of frozen peas
1 ½ tablespoons of fresh tarragon leaves
1 tablespoons of finely chopped, fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

INSTRUCTIONS
To make the pumpkin tops: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay the puff pastry out on a floured cutting board. Using a 5″ pumpkin cookie cutter, cut out 4 pumpkins. Lay on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cut out eyes and a mouth. Place in the oven and bake 20-22 minutes until puffed and browned all over. Leave on the sheet pan and set aside to cool slightly while you make the filling.

To make the chicken filling: Heat the stock in a saucepan over medium heat with the carrots, celery, and onions. When simmering, cover and lower the heat, cook for 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender; then keep warm.

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook the flour, constantly stirring until the mixture smells nutty about 2-3 minutes. Whisk in half the stock and vegetables until smooth. Whisk in the balance of the stock until you have a smooth, thick mixture. Add the wine, garlic, chicken, peas, parsley, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Stir in well and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper as desired. Transfer the mixture to four 5″x 1-¾ ” individual baking dishes, place on a foil-lined sheet tray and bake in the oven for twenty minutes.

Remove and rest 5 minutes then top each with a puff pastry pumpkin and serve.