Recipe: Winter Root Veggie Potpie
If you have a winter CSA share, then you’re probably poking around for some new ways to use up those winter root veggies. Straight from his cookbook Black Trumpet, Chef Evan Mallett suggests this Winter Root Veggie Potpie. And we couldn’t agree more. The basis of great cooking has always been the creative use of fresh, seasonal ingredients – whether the kitchen is at home or in a high-end restaurant. At Mallett’s renowned Black Trumpet restaurant, he and his staff reflect the constantly changing seasons of New England, celebrating the unique flavors and traditions of fished, farmed, and foraged foods in their ever-changing menus that rotate roughly every six weeks throughout the course of the year.
The following is an excerpt from Black Trumpet. It has been adapted for the web.
When I was born, my mother was told by her appropriately named pediatrician, Dr. Kinder, that she should feed me a different color Gerber vegetable for every meal. Taking his word as gospel, she lived by this doctrine, and later swore to me that my love of vegetables and curiosity about food began then. I guess we could all adopt Dr. Kinder’s words in our diet, making ours a Kinder, gentler, healthier nation.
This recipe uses many of the rainbow’s colors Dr. Kinder and my mother would certainly approve of.
Note that this recipe calls for up to ten individual tart pans. Many cooks will prefer to make one large pot pie with this recipe and serve sloppy slices instead of individual pies. That is absolutely okay, just a bit messier.
Makes 10 eight-ounce (225 g) individual pies
For the brisée dough
12 ounces (340 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (225 g) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
½ cup (120 ml) ice water
For the potpie
1 cup (225 g) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in double the volume of water 
¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, divided
1 medium-sized celery root (about 1 pound [455 g]), peeled and diced into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces
4 Red Bliss potatoes, scrubbed and cut into eighths (1-inch [2.5 cm] pieces)
1 cup (200 g) pearl onions, peeled
3 medium carrots, cut into obliques (quarter turns on the bias, ½ inch [1 cm] thick)
3 baby white turnips, quartered
1 pound parsnips, cut into obliques (quarter turns on the bias, ½ inch [1 cm] thick)
1 bulb fennel, halved, cores removed from each half, sliced ½ inch (1 cm) thick
8 ounces (225 g) parsley root (optional)
1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
1½ quarts (1.4 L) vegetable stock
1 tablespoon chopped fresh winter savory
1½ teaspoons ground coriander
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 sweet potato (about 1 pound [455 g]), peeled, quartered lengthwise, and chopped into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces
8 ounces fresh black trumpet mushrooms
⅓ cup (85 g) raisins, soaked in ½ cup (120 ml) orange juice for 30 minutes
For the final baking step
1 egg (50 g liquid egg)
2 tablespoons milk
Procedure for the brisée dough
- In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt three to four times.
- Add the butter and pulse ten times, counting 1 to 2 seconds per pulse. With the motor running, add the ice water in a slow drizzle.
- Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and, handling it as little as possible, mound into a disk
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to a few days.
Procedure for the potpie
- In a large pot, add the chickpeas and four times the volume of cold water.
- Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until al dente.
- Melt ¼ cup (55 g) of the butter in a medium round high-sided sauté pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the next eight ingredients including the optional parsley root, if you like, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies begin to turn golden brown, about 10 minutes.
- Remove the veggies, melt the remaining ½ cup (115 g) butter in the pan, and whisk in the flour, creating a roux.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes.
- Add the stock and the next six ingredients, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens slightly, about 7 minutes.
- Add the browned vegetables, sweet potato, and black trumpets, and simmer until fork-tender, about 25 minutes.
- Add the chickpeas and raisins and simmer 10 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Place 1 cup (235 ml) filling in ten 8- to 10-ounce (225 to 280 g) individual baking dishes or ramekins.
- Divide the dough into ten 1½-ounce (42 g) balls. Roll out each dough ball to ¼ inch (0.5 cm) thick and cut with a 4-inch (10 cm) biscuit cutter.
- Lay the pastry rounds over the top of the filling, tucking the ends into the baking dish.
- Whisk the egg and milk together in a small bowl and brush the top of the dough with the mixture. Score the crust with three slashes and place the baking dishes on a baking sheet.
- Slide into the oven and bake until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, about 20 minutes.
- Let cool for about 10 minutes and serve.
