Lobster Pot Pie

Exciting news my friends:

 Tis the season for slow braises, whipped root vegetables, and hearty pot pies.

This recipe is quick, simple, and will totally knock your socks off.

Lobster Pot Pie 

serves 4-5

Ingredients 

1 lb cooked fresh lobster meat 

1 yellow onion, diced (1.5 cups)

1 head fennel, diced (3/4 cup)

3-4 carrots, peeled and diced (1 cup)

1/3 butternut squash, diced (3/4 cup) 

2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced

1/4 lb unsalted butter

1/2 cup AP flour 

2.5 cups clam juice 

1 Tbsp cooking sherry

3 T heavy cream

1.5 cups frozen peas

1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

1/2 lemon, juiced and zested 

kosher salt, to taste

cracked pepper, to taste 

1 box puff pastry

egg wash (1 egg beaten w/ dash of cream or water)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 and thaw puff pastry (let sit out on countertop if you pull straight from freezer)

2. Saute fennel, onion, carrots, and butternut squash for about 10 minutes until onions are translucent then add garlic and saute for one more minute. Then add sherry and reduce for 1 minute.

3. Next add your flour and saute for a couple more minutes. Then add clam juice and simmer 5 more minutes. Now add heavy cream and season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat. 

4. Stir in peas, parsley, zest, lemon juice and lobster and then check for seasoning once more. 

5.  Next pour lobster filling mixture into individual oven-safe mini bakers, cocottes, or soup bowls. 

6. Top each with a square of puff pastry (bonus points if you make pretty cut-out vents or you can just slit the tops with a knife) and gently press around the edges. 

7. Trim long corner edges. Brush tops with egg wash. 

8. Bake for 15-25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Garnish with fennel fronds. 

9. Enjoy with simply dressed mixed greens. 

For the Budget-Conscious: You can just as easily swap the lobster for chicken, the fennel for celery, and the clam juice for chicken stock 

For the Vegetarians: Swap the clam juice for vegetable stock and load up on extra vegetables like wild mushrooms, celery, parsnips, and red skinned potatoes.