Skillet Vegetable Potpie

Skillet Vegetable Potpie
Linda Pugliese for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
4(1,893)
Notes
Read community notes

Loaded with the season’s finest offerings, this pie comes together in one skillet and manages to be hearty yet light. Leek provides a sweet and aromatic base, potatoes add body, fennel delivers an earthy note and asparagus imparts crisp freshness. (You could also use broccoli or green beans.) Sour cream in the base offers a slight tang and keeps the sauce light. Be sure to chop all of your vegetables around the same size to ensure they cook evenly and are tender by the time the pastry is golden. If you like, add other seasonal vegetables like peas or fava beans in the spring, or cauliflower or brussels sprouts in the fall and winter. (Frozen vegetables work well, too.) When using store-bought puff pastry, thaw it in the fridge overnight. If you don’t have an ovenproof 9- or 10-inch skillet, simply transfer the mixture to a similar-sized round or square baking dish.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
  • Print Options


Advertisement


Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1leek, finely chopped into ¼-inch pieces
  • 2garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1fennel bulb, cored and finely diced into ¼-inch pieces (about 14 ounces)
  • 2medium Yukon Gold or red-skinned potatoes, peeled and finely diced into ¼-inch pieces (about 14 ounces)
  • 16 to 20asparagus spears, trimmed and sliced into ¼-inch pieces (about 12 ounces)
  • teaspoons kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
  • Black pepper
  • 2tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
  • 1cup vegetable stock
  • 8ounces sour cream
  • 1bunch of chives, finely sliced (about ½ cup)
  • 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1cup grated Gruyère (about 3 ounces)
  • 1(14-ounce) sheet puff pastry, completely thawed
  • 1egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

640 calories; 42 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 21 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 54 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 807 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place an oven rack in the middle position, and heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil and set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Heat a 9- to 10-inch ovenproof skillet over medium high. Add the olive oil, leek, garlic and fennel, and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, until softened. Add the potatoes, asparagus and salt, then season with black pepper and stir. Scatter with the flour and give it a quick stir to coat well. Add the stock, sour cream, chives, Dijon mustard and Gruyère, and stir until well combined. Remove from heat.

  3. Step 3

    On a lightly floured surface using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the pastry 1 to 2 inches wider than the skillet. Carefully place the puff pastry over the top of the skillet and trim any long edges, then, working quickly, tuck and fold in the edges of the pastry so it sits just inside the rim of the skillet, to create a rough border. Brush the pastry with egg wash and carefully score the top with a few slits to allow air to escape during baking.

  4. Step 4

    Place the skillet on the baking sheet and transfer to the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden and bubbling around the edges. Let sit for 10 minutes before eating.

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,893 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

As a lifelong pastry chef/baker I can attest that puff pastry needs a high oven temp to puff. And the bubbling is the filling underneath telling you it is cooked. This recipe sounds simple and tasty! I'll make it!

It's an OK recipe. Not crazy about the mix of vegetables. Leek and fennel with asparagus and potatoes isn't my dream combo. I do love them all, but just not in the same pie. I used leek, fennel, carrots, fresh snap peas and corn. A more traditional "pot-pie" mix without the chicken. I would save the asparagus for a side dish, tossed with butter, lemon and sprinkled with parmesan. Ditch the potatoes entirely. If you aren't careful with the amount of stock, this pie will come out "runny".

Any putt pastry I’ve ever met will be black - not “golden” after 25 minutes in an oven at this temperature - - and to be picky, pastry NEVER “bubbles”. I’d recommend checking results starting at 15 minutes and, for extra crispy pastry, when the pastry is barely golden, spray or brush with olive oil (or canola) and heat for another 5 minutes. DO let sit before cutting/serving.

Can you substitute yogurt for sour cream?

I've tried this method, and the pastry performs poorly because it's put onto hot, bubbling filling; the butter leaks out too quickly and you lose the flakiness. Even though it's tedious, my preferred method is to precook filling and let cool to room temp. Then, filling on top and into the oven.

From the Test Kitchen, a bit of advice. Cook the "stew" without the pastry until hot and bubbly, then place your pastry on top, brush with egg wash and coninue to cook until pastry is brown. This allows one to ensure the inside is cooked and the heat from the bubbling stew to cook the bottom of the pastry. Raw dough = yuck

You could just skip the puff pastry and make this as a gratin dish with buttered panko/bread crumbs on top, couldn't you?

Made as is, added mushrooms and snow peas. The potatoes and fennel did not cook through, and the asparagus barely cooked. I had thought about precooking the vegs, but decided to go with the recipe. Should have gone with my gut.

I first added a diced yellow onion in addition to the leek, garlic and fennel. I then added about four stripped sprigs of chopped fresh rosemary, two tablespoons of fresh thyme and about a cup of quarter-inch diced carrots. I also doubled the amount of Dijon for added flavor and subbed vegetable stock for chicken stock. This exceeded our expectations, had tons of flavor and was shockingly easy. It’s definitely a new cold night favorite.

Agree. I forgot to add to my review above that some fresh herbs really improve the flavor here. I added fresh thyme and tarragon. Delicious.

I always use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

If you are finding that your crust goes soggy, here's a thought. There used to be a wonderful bakery in Park Slope called Sweet Melissa that did pot pie, and their way of dealing with the crust was to bake the puff pastry separately, serve the pot pie in a bowl, and pop a crisp round of pastry on top just before serving. The effect was the same as a traditional pot pie, but with no sogginess.

Can one use defrosted pie dough in place of puff pastry?

Monsieur Picky, The interior would be bubbling.

I'm sure you could do the first step in any skillet, then transfer to glass baking dish before topping with puff pastry. Either square 8x8 or 9x9, or a round 9-inch deep pie plate would work.

This dish was delicious, although, I used totally different veggies (onion, carrots, celery, cauliflower & spinach). The sauce is the secret to the scrumptiousness of this dish. Will make it again!

I ended up cooking the veggies for a bit longer before putting them in the oven, and then the pastry cooked quickly so it was only in the oven for about 15 minutes. I used carrots, broccoli stalk, and potato. Was delicious!

I should have read the reviews before making this. And, like another person, I should've gone with my gut and precooked the veggies especially the potatoes. The addition of fresh herbs sounds like a winner. Next time, herbs, precooked filling and maybe I'll make biscuits to put on top.

Make pastry thinner, and cook veggies longer, then put on the crust on later and into the oven.

I thought it was terrible! firstly the veggies are cut waaaay too small? and i would use mushrooms instead of potatoes. Sorry, I usually love NYT recipes but not this and i followed it exactly.

For a family meal, shortened the prep time by using a slicer attachment and a julienne attachment on my food processor and then using a knife if necessary. The pieces were relatively similar in size for cooking, if not completely uniform. Used gluten-free puff pastry, which worked well. The family liked it!

This did not work for me at all. The potatoes were still raw in the center after 25 minutes in the oven, but the pastry was thoroughly browned on top. What’s more, the pastry was undercooked on its bottom side. I think @Eskirmish of Test Kitchen must be right: cook the contents in the oven first before applying the pastry.

a half batch fit well in the small cast iron skillet, and made leftovers

I added chicken and make it in a much larger pan. I also added peas and carrots. Need to cook potatoes and carrots longer

Using what was in the frig, I substituted greek yogurt for sour cream and added peas and carrots since I had no fennel or asparagus. I also had to use phyllo dough on top. I beefed up the spices with Tuscan Sunset and Fox Point. Potatoes and carrots diced and were cooked through at end (20 mins in oven). All in all, looked pretty and tasted good and was quick and easy.

I made this, the crust was crisp and even reheated wonderfully.

Based on what I read here, I added pot pie veggies like carrots, celery. I used a 9x13 pan for more surface and servings...it also fit the pastry I had on hand. I buttered some of the layers, not all. Once the browning started, I turned it down to 375ish(?) And baked 10-15 longer to make sure the lower pastry layers were not raw. Supervise and have foil handy just in case so it does not burn. Reheats great from frozen in small baking dishes with loose foil.

Excellent. Added some carrots and mushrooms. I let the vegetables cook on the stove a few minutes longer, then 15-20 minutes at 425 degrees was perfect for the pastry.

Really enjoyed this. Will become a staple. I love the inclusion of fennel here. We substituted mascarpone for sour cream and added diced carrots to the veggies and fresh dill to the herbs. We hardly get Gruyère cheese in Italy so we added a mix of Asiago and Masadam cheeses. I agree on the crust cooking too quickly so I slapped some aluminum foil over the top when the crust reached perfect brownness after about 5 minutes at 450 and removed from the oven at 20 minutes and left the foil on 15 min

Great recipe! As other cooks have noted the veggies needed more cooking time, so I let the veggies simmer in veg broth for ten minutes, covered, after adding the flour. I added the asparagus when I added the sour cream and Dijon. Also, I cooked the dish at 425 for 20 minutes and it was perfect.

Private notes are only visible to you.

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.