Moroccan Chicken Pot Pie

I have a ga-jillion back issues of Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines taking up all kinds of room on shelves, closets, stacked as random reading material on end tables... It's gotten ridiculous. So I have been determined to go through small stacks at a time, pulling pages of recipes I want to try and discarding the rest of the magazine.

In perusing the December 2007 issue of Bon Appetit, I came across an intriguing recipe using the ever-popular-in-my-kitchen chicken: Moroccan Chicken Pot Pie. I had all the ingredients on hand, so I pared down the recipe to make a generous pot pie for myself. Since I'm not really a raisin fan, I used dried cranberries instead. And while the recipe called for store-bought pie crust, I made my own (which took less than 5 minutes using the food processor).

The pot pie was amazing. The different spices mingled well, creating a little party in my mouth! It also didn't dirty every surface in my kitchen - another plus! It was so delicious - I'll definitely be keeping this recipe in my files!


Moroccan Chicken Pot Pie
"Not your typical chicken pot pie. Cumin, cinnamon, and paprika add an aromatic spiciness, which is balanced by briny green olives and sweet golden raisins."
PREP: 30 minutes; TOTAL: 50 minutes

1-1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 lemon
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup imported green olives, pitted, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 refrigerated pie crust (half of 15-ounce package)

Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix chicken cubes with paprika, cumin, and cinnamon in large bowl to coat. Sprinkle chicken generously with salt and pepper. Cut lemon in half; remove seeds. Using small spoon, scoop out enough pulp and juice from between membranes to measure 2 tablespoons. (I found a grapefruit spoon to be the perfect tool for this task.) Add to chicken mixture; stir to blend.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, olives, and raisins. Saute until onion is almost tender, about 4 minutes. Add chicken mixture and stir 1 minute. Sprinkle flour over; stir 1 minute. Add broth and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Transfer filling to 9-inch-diameter deep-dish glass pie dish.

Place pie crust over dish and seal dough edges to rim of dish. Using small paring knife, cut several slits in pie crust. Bake pot pie until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling thickly, about 20 minutes.

Serves: 6 to 8

Source: Bon Appetit, December 2007

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