Turkey Pies

The worst part about a turkey holiday is dealing with the turkey left overs. One can handle turkey soup and sandwiches for so long! The inspiration for Turkey Pies came from the Dear Food Network Thanksgiving day special. One of the hosts used pre-made puff pastry and created turkey pot pies. Initially I tried to make pot pies as seen in the episode, however puff pastry is not as easy to work with as I thought it would be. Instead I ended up making "strudel" style pies - much easier with beautiful results. The filling was concocted with the veggies I had available in my fridge. This isn't the healthiest meal but it sure is tasty and and is a quick and easy way to use up those dreaded left overs. You can also make the pies smaller to serve as appetizers.

Turkey Pies:

1 pkg frozen puff pastry, thawed at room temp
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced celery
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup diced sweet potato
1/2 cup diced zucchini
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 can low fat cream of chicken soup
left over turkey gravy
salt & pepper to taste, if needed
egg wash (1 egg, lightly beaten mixed with 1/4 cup water)

1. Heat oil in a saute pan. Saute onions, celery and carrot until translucent.

2. Add other veggies and continue to saute until mushrooms have reduced slightly.

3. Add soup and gravy. Stir well to mix. Let simmer on low for 15 minutes.

4. Add salt & pepper if needed. If your gravy was well seasoned, additional S&P probably won't be necessary.

5. Roll out puff pastry on a flour covered counter top. Cut dough into squares to suit your pie size (for example: 3 inch square for appies, 5-6 inch square of entree).

6. Spoon turkey mixture on half of a pastry square, leaving a 1/4 inch on each side.

7. Fold pastry over to cover mixture. Press down sides with finger tips to form a tight seal. Ensure your seam is sealed otherwise tasty juices will leak out while baking!

8. Slice 3-4 slits across top of pie to let steam escape.

9. Brush tops and sides with egg wash.

10. Bake on parchment lined cookie sheet in 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. Pastry will be puffed up, flaky and browned lightly on top.