Serves 6-8

Pie Crust

2 ½ cups flour

1 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes

Salt

¼ cup ice water, plus more if needed

To prepare the pie crust, in a food processor combine the butter, flour and salt until the butter is reduced to very small pieces, about the size of half a grain of rice. With the processor running, add the ice water and then pulse a couple of times to incorporate. The dough should be crumbly at this point but should also want to stick together if you poke it with your finger or pinch it. If it seems a bit too dry to do that, add more water, a couple of tablespoons at a time. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead to combine well. Form into two balls, flatten into thick discs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.

Chicken-Vegetable Filling

3 stalks celery, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

1 cup peas

1 small onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

8 oz sliced mushrooms

4 Tb butter

3 cups cooked chicken, diced

2 Tb cornstarch stirred into ¼ cup of cold water.

3 cups chicken stock

1 tsp thyme

Salt and pepper

Egg wash: beat one egg with a Tb or two of water.

In a saucepan, bring 4 cups of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the celery, carrots and potatoes, and cook until they are just barely tender, about 10 minutes. In the final two minutes, add the peas. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet, sauté the onion and garlic in 2 Tb butter over medium-high heat for three minutes, and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are slightly golden, about seven minutes. Add the celery, carrot, peas and potatoes along with another Tb of butter. Sauté briefly to heat thoroughly. Add the chicken and sauté another couple of minutes. Turn off the heat.

In a separate saucepan, heat the chicken stock to boiling. Whisk in the cornstarch-water mixture, reduce the heat to med-high, and stir continually until the sauce thickens to a gravy consistency. Add the thyme and salt and pepper to taste.

Toss the sauce with the filling ingredients.

Roll the two pie crusts into two circles, about 12 inches each. Press the first crust into a pie pan with the edges hanging over.

Pour the chicken-vegetable filling into the pie pan, spreading evenly. You can let the center of the filling be a little higher in a slight dome in the center, if you like. Cover the pie with the second crust and press it gently down along the top of the filling. Trim the edges of the crusts to an inch overhang, and then roll the edges up to seal, and press your fingers along the edges to create a pretty scalloped effect.

Brush the top crust with egg wash. Cut a few holes in the top of the pastry in any design that you like.

Bake at 350 for about an hour and a half, until the crust is golden brown and the filling has begun to bubble out through the cuts you made in the top crust.

Remove from oven and let rest about 10 minutes before cutting into the pie to serve. Enjoy!