Pasta Pot Pie

la ricetta in italiano qui

Lovely Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook is hosting November Monthly Mingle, the long running event created by brilliant Meeta. This month's theme is pot pie.

A pot pie is a term for a type of baked savory pie with a bottom and top completely encased by flaky crusts and baked inside a pie tin to support its shape, that's what Wikipedia shows, going on with little differences between American, Australian and British pies I'm not sure I understood completely.

But that's not very important as long as I was able to bake my favorite pot pie for this event.

I'm quite embarassed to write the recipe as it's not really a recipe, I mean it can differ from time to time, depending on what you have in your pantry or in your fridge.

It's one of those recipes I love most as the base where to start from are leftovers, any sort of, in this case pasta or ravioli, to be enriched following your daily mood, or asking your fridge what has to offer.

So this is just an idea, any suggestion, any variation is more than welcome, I'm sure everybody can easily find her/his personal way.

And next time (would say all times ever) you are making pasta, ravioli or tortellini, please do not limit to the exact dose of the recipe but be generous, Italians always are :-) ... it's one of the most loved leftovers, simply fried in a little oil or converted into an omelette, a gratin or a pie.

I've chosen to make mini pies to use these nice colored individual molds, and besides it's easier to serve.

 

I made the pastry with a mix of flours, but you are free to use your favorite.

A little béchamel sauce will give extra creamyness to the pie, I had some boiled pumpkin to combine with that gave an extra color too.

Cheese and ham, aromatic herbs and spices at your pleasure, as well as any cooked vegetable.

Can be made in advance and then warmed in the oven a few minutes (covered with aluminium foil).

Serving 4 mini pies, 10 cm. round, 5 cm. tall:

Pastry:

100 g spelt flour

50 g kamut flour

50 g all-purpose flour

100 g cold butter, diced

60 g cold water

Quickly amalgamate all ingredients in a mixer, wrap with clinging film and let stand in the fridge at least half an hour. For an extra taste add 1 or 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan.

Filling:

250 g leftover ravioli or tortellini or pasta

(mine were mushroom ravioli)

béchamel sauce *

any favorite aroma

diced cheese or ham at your pleasure

* made with 30 g butter, 30 g flour, 300 g milk or vegetable stock

Melt butter in a saucepan, add flour and let toast a couple of minutes. Then add milk or stock, mix well and cook about ten minutes, stirring constantly. Season with salt and a little grated nutmeg. Add a couple of tablespoon of grated Parmesan or any cheese you like. Should be very creamy, if necessary add a little more milk or broth.

For this recipe I add some boiled pumpkin to give an extra color and taste.

 

Grease molds inside with a knob of butter, then sprinkle with a little breadcrumbs.

Roll out pastry in a very thin layer, cut appropriate rounds and line each mold, leaving an inch of pastry off the edges. Set aside.

 

Start with a layer of ravioli, then pour some béchamel sauce, then some ravioli again, some béchamel again, ravioli and béchamel up to the top. Cover with a 10 cm. round disk, fold the extra pastry over making a sort of rim, seal with a fork pressing the prongs onto it. Make little holes in the center with a toothpick and decorate on top with a star/heart/any shape you like. Brush with beaten egg.

Bake at 190/200° for about 20/30 minutes, until golden brown.

Let cool a few minutes then gently pass the blade of a knife around the edge and pull out the pie (or carefully turn the mold upside down).

 Enjoy!