Garlic Bread Leftover Turkey Pot Pie Recipe

Everyone knows nicely that day-old turkey is sort of dry. So smothering it in a creamy béchamel sauce for Leftover Turkey Pot Pie is a wonderful approach to breath new and scrumptious life into leftover meat! Tailored from my traditional Chicken Pot Pie, this additionally makes use of leftover bread for a tacky garlic bread topping.

Boring leftovers? By no means round right here!

Obtained leftover turkey?* Bits of bread mendacity round? Some scraps of veggies? Milk, butter and flour?

Then you’ll be able to MAKE THIS Turkey Pot Pie! As a result of all the things else is non-obligatory 🙂

OK, so a melty cheese topping precariously straddles the border of “non-obligatory” in my e-book, however having mentioned that no one each complains every time regular cheese-less garlic bread makes an look so I doubt anybody would complain right here both….

* Chicken, after all, is a superbly legitimate different right here if that’s what you’ve gotten.

The thought for a crunchy buttery bread topping quite than puff pastry that Chicken Pot Pie is historically made with took place as a result of the yr I initially printed this recipe I had a load of stale bread mendacity round and no puff pastry.

And I’m glad I did, as a result of the garlic bread topping completely MAKES it!!!

Right here’s what you could make this. Take observe: Any veg, any melting cheese!

• Cooked turkey or chicken – In the event you’re questioning what the distinction really is between the 2 meats (aside from the truth that turkey might be 2x, 5x greater!!) from a style perspective, the reply may be very little. Turkey meat has a barely deeper flavour, however most individuals can’t inform the distinction. I discover chicken meat is barely extra tender, being that’s it’s a smaller chicken. However with leftovers and particularly redeployed in a manner like this, one can barely inform the distinction.

  In truth, the meat proven under within the container above is chicken, provided that I didn’t make a brand new turkey recipe this yr (due the present pandemic restrictions and atmosphere as I defined in my Thanksgiving submit).

• Milk, butter, flour and inventory powder – To make the creamy white sauce we use to smother all the things on this pie.

• Greens – I’ve used carrot, frozen peas and mushrooms as a result of that’s what I had on the day after I first shared this recipe. You need to use any greens you’ve gotten that you just assume will style good in a creamy sauce. The spirit of this pie is utilizing up leftovers, bear in mind, so absolutely anything goes!

• Garlic and onion – Important flavour base for nearly each savoury dish round these elements!

Whereas the filling is scrumptious, I’m not going to mislead you – the topping steals the present. It’s primarily tacky garlic bread. The highest will get lovely and golden and the underside soaks up the creamy sauce…. UGH! It’s so good!

Right here’s what you want:

• Bread – Any bread is okay right here. If in case you have a loaf or rolls, tear it into chunks. If in case you have pre-sliced bread, layer it overlapping so it covers the entire filling;

• Garlic and butter – Recent garlic is finest, all the time. Jarred garlic is okay instead, however it’s by no means the identical – it has a bitter style and lacks that true contemporary garlic pungency. A garlic press makes brief work of mincing garlic (I take advantage of Zyliss, as listed in my Important Kitchenware submit!);

• Parmesan – Just a bit sprinkle for a lift of additional flavour, like we do for Chicken Parmesan, Baked Ziti. Fully non-obligatory – however for those who’ve acquired it, I like to recommend it!

• Cheese – Any cheesee you’ve gotten is okay right here – something that melts! However freshly-shredded is finest. I needed to make use of up mozzarella cheese slices I had available (an error in judgement in buy) in order that’s what you see right here, however it’s all the time higher to grate your individual. It melts higher; pre-sliced will get a little bit of a pores and skin on it, and pre-shredded stuff in packets simply doesn’t soften in addition to freshly shredded.

The making half is a streamlined model of Chicken Pot Pie as a result of we’re utilizing leftover cooked turkey or chicken as an alternative of creating it from scratch.

1. Garlic butter – Merely combine melted butter and crushed garlic (use a garlic crusher right here to extract finest flavour – see the Zyliss I take advantage of in my Important Kitchenware submit);

2. Garlic bread topping – Toss chunks of bread with the garlic butter;

3. Cook dinner mushrooms first then take away, so we will get a pleasant golden brown color on them = tastier. In the event you prepare dinner them later, they don’t brown up as a result of the pot is just too crowded;

4. Flavour base and roux – Sauté garlic and onion in butter, then carrot, to make a flavour base. Then add the flour and stir it in to make a roux (thickener for the bechamel);

5. Make creamy bechamel sauce – Pour half the milk in whereas stirring continually. This can assist guarantee your sauce is lump-free as it can remodel right into a paste-like combination that the flour mixes into extra simply. Then stir in the remainder of the milk and the “paste” will dissolve into the milk … giving us lump-free bechamel sauce! (Nevertheless, for those who do have some flour lumps, simply seize a whisk and whisk it forwards and backwards quickly, it can ultimately take away any lumps); and

6. Thicken – Stir leisurely because it involves warmth (so it doesn’t catch on the underside of the pot), and because it will get sizzling and steamy it can thicken fairly rapidly. Cook dinner it till the sauce is thick sufficient so you’ll be able to draw a clear path via the sauce throughout the again of a picket spoon.

Sauce carried out! Now it’s only a matter of including the turkey and assembling!

1. Make filling – Add turkey, frozen peas (no must thaw) and mushrooms then toss nicely;

2. Prime with garlic bread – Unfold the filling out so it’s flat, then high with the garlic bread chunks;

3. Tacky goodness – Sprinkle with parmesan then high with the melting cheese. I’ve used mozzarella slices at present as a result of I that’s what I had. They had been pre-sliced which I don’t like; it doesn’t soften in addition to slicing or shredding your individual. However hey, by no means waste completely good components!

4. Bake! Bake half the time uncovered to get good brown spots on the cheese, then the remaining time coated so the cheese doesn’t get any browner however it provides all the things an opportunity to bubble collectively properly.

Then pull it out of the oven and dig in!

Mmmmm, that mixture of creamy filling and that buttery, tacky garlic bread topping… it’s to die for!

I actually hope you bought a turkey sufficiently big this yr so you’ve gotten sufficient leftovers to make this! My rule of thumb for gauging roast turkey parts is round 250g / 8oz uncooked turkey per particular person (shrinks by about 20% as soon as cooked). Multiply that by the variety of visitors you’re catering for.

However … then double it. That manner, you’ll know for positive that you just’ll have loads of turkey leftover to make this Leftover Turkey Pot Pie. 😉

Garlic Bread Leftover Turkey Pot Pie Recipe

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Serves: 5 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 40 minutes 40 minutes

Nutrition facts: 589 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 150g / 5 oz mushrooms , sliced 1/2cm / 1/5" thick
• 50g / 4 tbsp butter
• 1 onion , finely chopped (brown, white, yellow)
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 carrot , peeled, chopped into 1cm/ 1/3" pieces
• 4 tbsp flour (plain/all purpose)
• 2 1/2 cups milk (any fat % fine)
• 4 cups (600g) cooked chopped turkey or chicken
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
• 1 tsp chicken or vegetable stock powder (or 1 cube. I use Vegeta powder)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 50g / 4 tbsp salted butter
• 2 garlic cloves , minced using garlic press
• 5 packed cups bread chunks ~2.5cm/1" cubes (Note 1)
• 2 tbsp parmesan cheese , grated (optional)
• 1 cup mozzarella or other melting cheese, shredded or sliced (or enough slices to cover most of top)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (all oven types)
2. Topping: Stir together melted butter and garlic. Place bread chunks in a bowl, drizzle over butter, toss. Set aside.
3. Brown mushrooms: Heat oil in an oven-proof skillet over high heat. (Note 3) Add mushrooms and cook until browned – about 4 minutes. Remove.
4. Sauté garlic & onion: Lower heat to medium high. Melt butter in same skillet. Add onion and garlic, cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add carrot then cook for 1 minute.
6. Add flour, cook for 1 minute. You'll have a pasty mix. Don't worry if it looks dry (depends how sweaty your onions get).
7. Make roux: While stirring, add half the milk and mix quickly to dissolve the paste into the liquid (this happens quite quickly). Add remaining liquid and stir. Add stock powder, salt and pepper, stir.
8. Thicken sauce: Cook for 2 – 3 minutes, stirring regularly. It should start steaming and bubbling a bit, and the sauce will thicken. Thickness test: coat back of wooden spoon, you should be able to draw a line across it (see video, Note 3)
9. Add turkey, peas and mushrooms, and mix into sauce.
10. Top with bread, spread to cover surface. Grate over parmesan if using, top with melting cheese.
11. Bake: Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until the cheese gets some brown spots. Tent foil over so it doesn't stick to the cheese, then bake for a further 10 minutes.
12. Serve: Sprinkle with additional parmesan if desired, then serve!

Notes

1. Bread – It’s better to use soft breads rather than artisan sourdough-type breads with really thick chewy crusts and a tight crumb. I just used an everyday bread loaf. Rolls, hamburger buns, sandwich bread – anything goes here.
It’s hard to measure the bread required because they all have different densitie. You just need enough to cover the surface of the pie, one layer. If using sliced bread, just cut them into 3cm / 1.5″ squares then layer them overlapping slightly, and drizzled with butter (too hard to toss).
2. Skillet – I use my Lodge 26cm/10.25″ cast iron skillet, it is perfect for this sort of job. See My Essential Kitchenwares for more information.
If you don’t have one in a similar size that’s oven proof, make this in a 2.5L/2.5 quart casserole dish (10 cups).
3. Don’t stress about sauce thickness, it’s easy to adjust. Once you stir the turkey etc in, whatever the consistency of the sauce is, that’s how it will be once out of the oven. It does not thicken much in the oven – cook time is short plus no air vents for evaporation to allow sauce to thicken. If the filling is too runny for your taste, just pop it back on the stove (with turkey etc) and cook until thickened to your taste.
You can also thicken the filling with CHEESE. 🙂
4. Storage and reheating – Keeps fine in the fridge for up to 5 days (we re-cooked the turkey remember -clock reset!) Reheat covered in oven (better) or the microwave. 
5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 6 servings. I totally thought it was going to be way worse than this – score!