Butternut Squash Pot Pie & Mini Apple-Craisin Crisps

Today was the nice kind of rainy day that makes you glad to stay inside and watch movies. I wasn't very productive until the sun came out around 5pm. I cleaned up the kitchen, only to get it dirty again when I brought all my plant pots over to trim them. My herb garden has died. I am not sure what I did wrong, since they did well for a long time, and then they ended up with the same black spots that plagued some of my other plants. I give up. I cut them down to the root, and if they re-grow, fine. If not, fine.

After re-cleaning the kitchen, I finally started cooking around 7pm. I ran through a list of possibly dinners with my husband. He had suggested using some of the butternut squash, so I gave him options like soup (but we don't have salad ingredients to go with), a pasta dish, or gnocchi - but he was not all that excited. I was preparing to make an apple pie, so I asked him if he wanted apple crisp instead and use the pie crusts for a pot pie instead. That was the clear winner. Very excited. For dessert I made miniature apple crisps topped with vanilla ice cream, that were delicious.


Butternut Squash Pot Pie
2 Pie Crusts – Ready-made pie crust for 2 crust pie
1 Small Butternut Squash (approx 2C), cut into large slices
1 medium Russet Potato, cut into quarters
1 large Carrot, sliced
1 small red onion, sliced into thick rounds
¼ C peas, frozen
1 can Cream of Potato condensed soup
¾ C 1% Milk
½ tsp fresh chopped thyme
2 Tbsp fresh chopped oregano
1 tsp fresh chopped sage (about 3 large leaves)
½ tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1 Egg white
Kosher Salt
Ground black pepper
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

1. Set oven to 425. Layer squash slices on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil, season with salt & pepper. Roast for a total of 30-45 minutes until tender.
2. 15 minutes after putting squash in the oven, add the potatoes and carrots to the baking sheet with the squash, brushed with oil. 10 minutes later, add the onion slices, also oiled.
3. Meanwhile, mix the sauce in a small bowl. Combine the soup, milk, herbs, nutmeg and a little black pepper.
4. Cool the roasted vegetables about 10 minutes, and then cut into smaller bite-size chunks. Add all the vegetables to a bowl and toss in the peas.
5. Lay bottom pie crust into a 9” pie plate. Pour the vegetables into the crust and top with the sauce. Lay top crust over filling and seal the edges.
6. Poke holes in the crust for the air to escape, and brush with slightly beaten egg white.
7. Bake for 40 minutes, cool for 10 minutes before cutting.


Mini Apple-Craisin Crisps
(4 servings)
3 small Macintosh apples
¼ (or less) dried cranberries
¼ C quick cook Oats
1 Tbsp margarine
1 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp brown sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
Lemon juice

Peel, core and slice apples. Split evenly into 4 small ramekins. Sprinkle each with a bit of lemon juice, and sprinkle a little cinnamon and nutmeg over the apples. Add a few cranberries to each dish. Toss In a small bowl, soften the margarine. Add oats, flour and sugar and stir together. Top each ramekin with the oats. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until apples reduce in size and turn brownish.