All-New Old-Fashioned Turkey Pot Pie

All-New Old-Fashioned Turkey Pot Pie

Turkey Pot Pie is the ultimate comfort food. Rich buttery biscuits cooked on top of a creamy sauce stuffed with turkey, potatoes and veggies.  Wait Barbara, you say. I thought you made HEALTHY recipes! How can such a rich delicious dish possibly be healthy? Well, I say, keep reading and I will show you how!

Although I never met her, I have been told that my Grandmother McGlone was a wonderful cook. My father still has her original cookbook and copied it for me and all my siblings. I grew up trying to perfect her recipe for biscuits. They are made with white flour, whole milk and… LARD! Of course they are fluffy, rich and delicious, but not so healthy.

For my biscuits, I replaced almost all the fat in my grandmother’s biscuits with fat free cream cheese and used low fat buttermilk for richness. The cream sauce gets a lot of flavor from chicken broth and is thickened with a small amount of flour. As with many of my recipes you can even make this vegetarian by adding in more veggies in place of the turkey. You can also add more broth to the filling mixture, omit the biscuits and have a healthy scrumptious soup!

This pot pie is so mouth-watering delicious that you won’t believe it’s under 300 calories per serving! It’s time to indulge, people. You really can have it all!

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless skinless turkey breast (preferably partially frozen)
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 3 medium gold potatoes
• 1 c frozen peas
• ½ c chopped onion
• 4 medium carrots,
• 4 medium celery stalks
• 10 medium crimini mushrooms
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1/3 c chopped fresh parsley
• 1 ½ Tbsp light butter
• 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
• ½ c fat free milk
• 1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper

Filling Directions:

Dice the potatoes. Put them in a large pot, cover with the chicken broth, cover and heat on high heat. Just when it comes to a boil, add the frozen peas and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Drain the potatoes and peas in a colander over a large bowl or pot to reserve the cooking liquid. Transfer the potatoes and peas to a large bowl.

Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Split carrots and celery in half lengthwise, and then thinly slice them. Roughly chop the mushrooms Coat the skillet with cooking spray and add the carrots, celery, mushrooms, onions, parsley and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender. Transfer the vegetables to the bowl with the potatoes and peas.

Return the skillet to medium heat. Dice the turkey breast into small cubes. Although not necessary it is much easier to dice the turkey when it is partially frozen. I freeze the turkey overnight and then put it in the fridge the next morning. By the time I’m ready to cut it up in the evening, it is the perfect consistency.

Coat the skillet with cooking spray again and add the diced turkey. Cook, stirring occasionally until the turkey is cooked through. Transfer the turkey to the bowl with veggies.

Turn the skillet down to medium low. Melt the light butter and then sprinkle in the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or spatula. Continue cooking for about 3-4 minutes stirring constantly. Mixture will be thick and dry. Slowly pour in 1 cup of the reserved chicken broth while stirring. Continue stirring, while scraping the bottom and sides of the skillet until the mixture is smooth and free of clumps.

Add 1 more cup of chicken broth and the fat free milk. Turn the skillet up to medium heat. Continue stirring and scraping the bottom and sides of the skillet with the wooden spoon every 1-2 minutes until mixture begins to bubble and thicken. When it is the consistency of gravy, it is thick enough. Pour this mixture and 1 cup of reserved chicken broth over the veggies and turkey. Add black pepper and stir to combine.

Transfer entire mixture to a large pot, cover and keep warm on low heat while making the biscuits below. (Add 2-4 cups more broth at this point if making soup.)

Biscuit Ingredients:

• 3/4 c whole wheat flour
• 1 ¼ c all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ c fat free cottage cheese
• 1 tsp light butter
• ¾ c cold low fat buttermilk, 1% milkfat
• Extra flour for rolling out and cutting
• 1 egg, beaten
• Ground black pepper

Biscuit Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Cut in the cottage cheese and light butter with a pastry cutter or fork. Make a well in the center of the bowl. Pour the buttermilk in the center of the bowl and slowly incorporate the flour mixture with a fork until just combined. Do not over-mix, or your biscuits will be tough.

Sprinkle a liberal amount of flour on a dry flat surface and transfer dough. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and flour a rolling pin. Lightly roll out the dough to 1 ½ inch thickness starting by pressing down lightly in the center of the dough with the pin and rolling out to the edge with equal pressure. Turn the dough ¼ turn and repeat. Be sure not to roll out too thin- we want these biscuits nice and thick!

Using a biscuit cutter or juice glass, coat with flour and press into the dough. If you have some dough edges left over, you can make a free-form biscuit with it. Makes 8 thick biscuits.

Putting the two together!

Pour the turkey mixture into a large deep casserole dish, about ¾ full. Float the biscuits on top. Brush the tops with the beaten egg and grind a little black pepper on the top. Cook in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

Remove from oven and let sit for about 5 minutes. Dish out onto plates or large bowls and watch everyone drool!

Servings: 8      Serving Size: 1 biscuit with approx. 1 cup filling

Calories: 294               Fat: 3.1g          Sat. Fat: .3g     Carbs: 45.2g

Sodium: 886mg           Fiber: 5.5g       Sugar: 6.2g      Protein: 21.4g