We lucked out at a used bookstore a few weeks ago and picked up a copy of both Ad Hoc at Home and The French Laundry Cookbook, both by Thomas Keller. We’ve tried a number of the recipes before and found them to be nearly perfect. They do take time and care, but, they’re great for those days when you’d love to spend the afternoon in the kitchen, sharpening your cooking or baking skills, and wowing people around the dinner table. This recipe is perfect; it took us several hours to prepare, then another hour-plus baking time. In the end, we thought it was worth it.
For the most part, this recipe follows the one in Ad Hoc at Home, but we added peas and mushrooms to the mix in place of the 2 cups of chopped chicken, but you can make it however you want. In the ingredients list, we have our modifications, which include using rosemary sprigs in place of thyme, and the omission of a tablespoon of chopped flat-leaved parsley in the béchamel. Our instructions are slightly different, mainly in reusing the same saucepan for cooking each of the vegetables, and not a separate saucepan for each.
Vegetable Pot Pie a la Thomas Keller
Ingredients
- 2 Pâte Brisée crusts, chilled and ready to roll (See note)
- 1 cup 1/2-inch cubes red-skinned potatoes
- 1 1/2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots
- 12 white pearl onions peeled
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 1-1/2 inch sprigs fresh rosemary
- 24 black peppercorns
- 1 1/4 cups 1/2-inch pieces celery
- 1 cup frozen peas
- Canola oil
- 5-6 ounces fresh white mushrooms quartered
- 3 Tbs unsalted butter
- 3 Tbs all-purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 egg lightly beaten
Instructions
- Place potatoes in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, and add 1 bay leaf, 1 sprig rosemary, and 8 peppercorns. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and let cool. Remove and discard bay leaf, rosemary, and peppercorns.
- Rinse out pan and cook carrots the same way. Repeat with onions, slicing in half after they cool.
- Rinse saucepan and bring about 2 cups of salted water to a boil. Add celery and boil until crisp- tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and place in ice water to shock. Drain and place with previously- cooked vegetables.
- Rinse saucepan, and bring about 2 cups salted water to a boil. Add peas and cook until bright green and tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and place with other cooked vegetables.
- Lightly oil a heavy-bottomed skillet, preferably cast-iron, and place over medium-high heat. When hot, add mushrooms in a single layer and sear about 3 minutes. Stir, and continue searing mushrooms until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool.
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour and cook until bubbly, but not browned, about 2-3 minutes. Whisk in milk and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to very low, just barely a simmer, and cook until reduced to about 2 cups, 30-45 minutes. Strain into a large measuring cup with a spout and season with salt, pepper, thyme, and cayenne.
- While the béchamel sauce cooks, roll out one crust and fit into an 8- or 9-inch pie pan. Place in refrigerator to chill.
- Preheat oven to 350°F, and place a rack in the lower third of the oven.
- When béchamel sauce is done, take second crust from refrigerator and roll into a circle large enough to cover the pie. Scatter vegetables inside fitted pie crust, and add béchamel sauce.
- Lightly brush the edge of the crust with egg and fit the other crust on top. Trim away edges, cut small vents near the center, and brush with egg.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until filling is bubbling and crust is nicely browned. If necessary, move pie to an upper rack during the last 10-15 minutes to brown the top crust.
- Let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Ingredient discussion:
We suggest this Pâte Brisée recipe simply because it’s the easiest and the best we know of. It always works. Yes, it seems to be a lot of trouble to cook each vegetable separately, but we think it’s to keep the flavors from mixing. It’s really not that bad, though; just make sure you plan ahead so you have enough time. We didn’t think it was all that important to have the white pearl onions; we bought them just for this pie, but, afterwards, we were really glad we had. They add a flavor that you don’t get in regular white onions.
Procedure in detail:
Cook potatoes. If you decide to cook all the vegetables at once, we won’t judge, but we did cook all of ours separately. It’s not a bad way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon, and it does make sure that each vegetable is cooked properly; after all, potatoes will cook at a different rate than carrots. So, place the potatoes in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Add 1 bay leaf, 1 sprig of rosemary, and 12 peppercorns. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and let cool. Remove and discard the bay leaf, rosemary, and peppercorns.
Cook carrots. We simply rinsed out the saucepan that we used for the potatoes and cooked the carrots exactly the same way, adjusting the cooking time appropriately. Once cooked and drained, again, remove and discard the bay leaf, rosemary, and peppercorns. You can place the cooked carrots with the potatoes.
Cook onions. Rinse the pan again and cook the pearl onions just like the carrots and potatoes — yes, a new bay leaf, new rosemary sprig, and 12 more peppercorns — until tender. Drain, discard the spices, and, when cool, slice the onions in half. Place them with the carrots and potatoes.
Cook celery. Here it changes just a bit. For the celery, bring about 2-3 cups of salted water to a full, rolling boil. Add celery and cook until crisp-tender, about 8 minutes. Drain, and immediately place the celery in ice water to chill. This will make sure it stays somewhat crisp and retains its color. Once chilled, drain again and place with the other cooked vegetables.
Cook peas. Again, rinse the saucepan and bring 2-3 cups of salted water to a rolling boil. Add peas and cook until bright green and tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and place with the other vegetables.
Sear mushrooms. Lightly oil a heavy-bottomed skillet, preferably cast-iron, and place over medium-high heat. When hot, even to the point of a light amount of smoke coming off the skillet, add the mushrooms in a single layer. Let the mushrooms sear for about 3-4 minutes, then stir to allow another side to sear. Continue searing until the mushrooms are golden and tender, about 10 minutes. Remove mushrooms from pan and place with the other vegetables.
Make béchamel. If you wish, you can do this at the same time you’re cooking vegetables — it takes awhile. Place the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. When melted, add the flour, and cook until bubbly but not browned, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk, bring to a simmer, reduce heat to very low, and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to about 2 cups, about 30 to 45 minutes. Strain the béchamel through a fine-mesh strainer into a large measuring cup with a spout. Season with the salt, pepper, thyme, and cayenne. Set aside.
Roll crust. While the béchamel sauce is simmering, roll out one of the crusts and fit it to an 8- or 9-inch pie pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble the pie.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place one rack in the bottom third of the oven and one in the top third.
Fill and seal. Before filling the pie, roll out the other crust large enough to cover the pie. Spread the vegetables in the pie shell and cover with béchamel, stirring a bit to incorporate, if needed. Brush the edges of the crust with egg and place the second crust on top, pressing down lightly on the edges to seal. Trim away excess crust, and cut several vent holes in the center. Brush the crust with egg.
Bake. Slide the pie onto the lower rack in the oven, on a baking sheet if it seems likely to overflow, and bake until the sauce is bubbling out the vents and the crust is browned and flaky. If needed, transfer the pie to an upper rack during the last 10-15 minutes of baking to brown the crust.
Stand. Let the pie stand for 10 minutes before serving.
This pie is delicious, and, we think, well worth the effort. The béchamel is thick enough that it doesn’t leak all over the plate like soup with a crust. Instead, it’s a pie, just as it should be. The béchamel is very tasty, and the pie has plenty of vegetables to make it filling. The crust, as we expected, is super light and flaky, just what you want. Even with all the separate boiling of vegetables to start out, this is a five-star pie.
