I love using leftover stews to make pot pies – its easy, quick, and it makes the leftover stew a bit more interesting and special than just reheating in the microwave.
I saw this interesting version in the massive Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook and thought it looked like a great idea, so thought I’d try out my own version, with leftover Chicken Barley Stew for the filling. I’m planning on eating the leftover dumplings for breakfast anyway!
Savory Green Crumble Topping
2 cups flour
3 handfuls baby spinach
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. dried herbs (sage and thyme)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
6 tablespoons Becel
3/4 cup plain yogurt, thinned with milk
Combine flour, spinach, baking powder, salt, pepper, herbs and cayenne in food processor and process until flour is flecked with green spinach.
Add Becel and liquid and process til combined.
Drop in 1/2inch to 3/4inch pieces onto parchment lined baking sheet. Or if you are feeling wild and crazy and are out of parchment, just put them on an ungreased baking sheet. Its flour and butter, is it really going stick? We’ll see. (It didn’t stick).
Bake at 450’F until fragrant and browned, 10-13 minutes.
Let the crumble topping cool.
Now you can fill a greased casserole dish with your filling, top with the crumble (I crumbled the larger crumbles) and bake at 450’F for 15 minutes (if your filling is already hot) until browned and bubbly. Or for 25 minutes, if you have pre-assembled casserole and are baking from the fridge. I bet this would be a good freezer casserole too – I may try it!
Result: This was excellent- kind of like having a yummy bread stuffing for a topic – I would definitely re-use this recipe idea for topping other stews and casseroles, it was quick, easy and a lot less fuss than other pot pie style toppings! Very filling too!
Laurie Cooks 