vegetarian breville mini pot pie

pint-sized pot pies

This winter in PA has been the worst I have ever experienced. I now have a set of skills I never thought I would need, including: shoveling snow off of my car, shoveling sidewalks, de-icing my windows, and "layering" clothes to brave the biting wind chill (yes, that means two pairs of pants).
Fie on this weather!

snowflakes that fall on my nose and eyelashes (and eyebrows)

All of the icicles and slush call for some piping hot flaky vegetable pot pies. My Auntie Maureen gifted me the Breville mini pie maker for Christmas (thanks Auntie Reen, generous benefactor of kitchen adventures!). This appliance resembles a waffle maker, but has four cute pockets for mini pot pies. I used the pie maker to make savory vegetable pot pies.

mini pies!

The pot pies are very simple.

1 diced red potato
.5 diced red onion
1 diced carrot
1 c lima beans
1 c of peas
a handful of spinach or other green you have around chopped in to ribbons
One can of Amy's cream of mushroom soup
herbs of your choice (Dried oregano and thyme work nicely here. Or got fresh parsley? Go nuts.)

Your favorite pie crust (I used a combination of some pies with Pilsbury and some with spelt crust)

For the filling:
Saute the potatoes, carrot, greens and onions until the onions become translucent. Add herbs just before the frozen items. Then add the lima beans and peas, and allow the ribboned greens to wilt over the vegetables and legumes. Finally, add the can of Amy's. Let heat through. This recipe makes around six mini pot pies.

For the pie crust:

Follow the instructions for the Breville pie maker. Some pro tips found on http://www.brevilleusa.com/the-personal-pie.html:

- Don't twist the pie mold; just press down and release. Twisting messes up the edges.

- Pre-heat the machine three times for the first use.

- Chill the mini pie crusts before you use them.

- Use a rounded 1/3 cup to fill the cups.

- Cool the pies on a cookie rack to keep the bottoms crisp.

- Puff pastry works best for the top crust.