Ingredient: Old Bay or your favorite seafood seasoning

Scallop Shell Pies

Scallop shell pies are a nice touch in the savory pie world, I guess you could say it’s a seafood inspired twist on a classic!

We are only in the month of March, so there’s plenty of time to savor comfort food at its finest. Typically, pot pie does not have an abundance of ingredients so it is imperative to build a good flavor profile.

When making the sauce, I always use stock as opposed to water. Any thickened sauce depends on a roux. Making sure its cooked to a light golden brown helps to avoid the ‘flour’ taste and allows the other ingredients to come to the forefront.

Within the loose definition of a ‘pot pie’, its easy to add (or remove) flavors that interest you. Its all about creative expression!

When choosing the pastry, there are no right answers, just numerous possibilities that depend on the maker. Modern convenience embraces the use of puff pastry as a flakier, more delicate solution. You could call it a weeknight comfort food’s best friend.

This pot pie is made with a puff pastry ‘scallop shell’ lid and no bottom crust. The golden crust acts like a piece of bread and soaks up some of the decadence with every bite. Adding scallops to a creamy vegetable based filling creates an amazing meal.

Print Recipe
 Scallop Shell Pies
Votes: 2
Rating: 3.5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword scallop shell pies
Servings
Ingredients
Pastry
Filling
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword scallop shell pies
Servings
Ingredients
Pastry
Filling
Votes: 2
Rating: 3.5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Pastry
  1. Thaw puff pastry. Leave on parchment & cut out 2 shell shapes to cover your ramekins. Mark with the lines on them to replicate sea shells. Place in fridge until ready to use.
Filling
  1. In a saucepan, fry bacon until crisp; remove & drain on paper towel. Sauté leek, mushrooms & garlic in bacon drippings for a few minutes. Add cooked, diced potatoes, flour & seasoning.
  2. Preheat oven to 425 F.
  3. Sauté for another minute, making sure to coat everything with the flour. Add chicken broth, stirring well to dissolve the flour; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, add scallops, crumbled bacon, cream & salt & pepper to taste; gently stir to combine.
  4. Remove filling from heat & divide between ramekins. Top with chilled puff pastry & brush with egg wash. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nice & golden.
Recipe Notes
  • When I have some pastry scraps leftover, I make a bit of cinnamon/sugar to sprinkle on it. It makes a few little tasty sweet snacks to nibble on.

Pork & Smoked Oyster Pot Pies

Perhaps one of the ultimate ‘retro’ cocktail party snacks, smoked oysters are something people either love or hate.

Here in our province of Alberta, Canada fresh seafood and fish are definitely not always available. Brion and I enjoy pretty much ‘anything seafood’, so I’m always looking for new ways to incorporate it into our meals. Of course, this means using canned or frozen for most part, so thinking ‘outside the box’ is important.

You can do almost anything with smoked oysters that you do with any seafood. They’re at their freshest when packaged. Canned smoked oysters are usually steamed when they are fresh, smoked for extra flavor and finally packaged in oil.

Over the years, I’ve used them in pate, stew, soup and stuffing, so why wouldn’t they work in pot pie?! Doing a little of my favorite ‘recipe development’ cooking, this is what materialized. We had two for supper and I froze the other two ….. bonus for a later date.

Print Recipe
 Pork & Smoked Oyster Pot Pies
Votes: 2
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American, Cuban
Servings
Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American, Cuban
Servings
Ingredients
Votes: 2
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Prepare pastry for Pot Pies. Preheat oven to 425 F. Dice tenderloin into 1/2-inch cubes & roast for 20 minutes. Remove from oven & set aside. Turn oven off, if you wish until ready to bake pot pies.
  2. In a large saucepan, fry bacon until crisp; remove & drain on paper towel. Saute onion, mushrooms & garlic in bacon drippings for a few minutes. Add carrots, celery & potatoes & continue to saute until soft; add flour & seasoning.
  3. Saute for another minute, making sure to coat everything with the flour. Add clam nectar & chicken broth, stirring well to dissolve the flour; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add oysters, roasted tenderloin, crumbled bacon, cream & salt & pepper to taste; stir to combine.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 F. Remove filling from heat & allow to cool for a few minutes then divide between individual pot pie pastry shells. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until pastry is baked & golden.
Recipe Notes
  • Another pastry that would go real well with this filling would be the one with cornmeal in it.