During weeks when I’m juggling deadlines and a dozen other things I lack both the time and desire to make fussy, time consuming meals. Since I can’t, or shouldn’t, order take-out every night, I turn to the time-pressed cook’s friend, the potpie. With potpies I simply plunk fish, chicken or vegetables into a pie crust, place a starchy topping over them and slide the concoction into the oven. In less than an hour I end up with something wholesome and filling for dinner — a pie cooked in a pot, or so to speak.

Obviously, I’m not the first to cut corners with potpies. Indigenous to Northern Europe, this tasty dish has been popular since at least the 14th century. Although long reviled for their cuisine, the British have created a lengthy list of delicious, albeit sometimes quirky, potpies. Pies featuring goose, eel, game, steak and kidney, ham and egg, pork with anchovy paste, and cod, flounder or whiting fill the pages of countless British cookbooks.

Although the traditional potpie consists of both top and bottom crusts, my version frequently goes bottomless. Such is the case with chicken and mushroom “puffpie.” For this I toss cubed chicken together with carrots, onions, mushrooms and stock and spoon them into a baking dish. I then cover the ingredients with store-bought puff pastry and pop the pie into the oven. After 20 minutes I’ve got a succulent, piping hot potpie all ready to eat.

A far more famous bottomless pie is shepherd’s pie. Originating in northern England and Scotland where sheep and shepherds reigned supreme, this entree was born out of the need to use up leftover meat. As a result, it contains scant few ingredients — minced lamb or mutton, perhaps a little diced onion for flavor and mashed potatoes for the topping. When minced beef stands in for the lamb or mutton, you have another quintessential English dish, cottage pie. Most cooks today, though, refer to this beef-and-mashed-potatoes combo as “shepherd’s pie,” too.

Since, for me, potpies are all about saving time, I might replace the mashed potatoes in shepherd’s or cottage pie with simple drop biscuits or store-bought puff pastry. Similarly, I may opt to use two frozen, commercially-made pie crusts rather than homemade dough for any of the standard potpie recipes.

CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM “PUFFPIE”
Serves 6

1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, poached
2 cups chicken stock
¾ cup low fat milk
¼ cup chicken stock
3 tablespoons flour
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
½ cup pearl onions, peeled and halved
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 tablespoons butter
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 sheet puff pastry

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

If using frozen puff pastry, unfold and defrost one sheet of pastry.

If you don’t have leftover cooked chicken on hand, you’ll need to poach 1 1/2 pounds of white meat chicken. To do this, place the chicken and 2 cups of stock in a large saucepan or Dutch oven and simmer until cooked. Strain the poaching liquid, add the milk, extra ¼ cup stock and flour. Whisk together and then set aside. Allow the chicken to cool before cutting it into small cubes or pieces.

In a large frying pan or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, onions and mushrooms and cook until softened. Pour in the liquid and the cubed chicken and stir the ingredients together. Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper, stir and allow the filling to cook for 5 to 10 minutes.

Place the puff pastry on a cutting board. Using a pie pan as your guide, trim the pastry so that it fits over the pan. Once the pastry is trimmed, butter the bottom and sides of pan.

Spoon the heated chicken and mushroom filling into the pan. Lay the pastry over the top of the filling. Bake at 350 degrees for roughly 20 minutes or until the pastry has puffed up and turned a golden brown. Serve immediately.