During my first year of living in Paraguay, I took a trip to the arid Chaco desert over Thanksgiving. I spent a few nights in a hotel that was less amenable lodging and more musty Indiana Jones cave. When I went to bed the first night, I kept hearing a syncopated *pak! pak! pak pak!* and, to my horror, discovered legions of hard-shelled insects dropping from the ceiling. I switched on the lights to find the walls covered in trillions of black termites. The entire room was swarming—bugs streaming from the closet, skittering through the floor crevices, pouring out from under the bed, and even wrangling their way up the sink drain. STOMP, SMACK, SCREAM, REPEAT.
These days, Thanksgiving is a much more muted affair by comparison, with roast turkey, fried rice, ceviche, and a full arsenal of Raid under the sink at the ready (however unlikely the threat of infestation). The biggest preoccupation now is how to repurpose all the leftovers, since my family often cooks enough food for three times the number of actual guests. Stuffing shredded turkey into a pot pie is an excellent way to give it a second life while still presenting it as a fresh meal. If you’re making this out of season, chicken is a fitting substitute.
1 disk Spinach Pie Dough
2 disks Whole Wheat Cheddar Chive Pie Dough
TURKEY POT PIE FILLING
5 tablespoons (76 grams) unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice (about 1 cup)
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice (about 1 cup)
3 celery stalks, cut into ¼-inch dice (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
⅓ cup (47 grams) all-purpose flour
2 cups (474 milliliters) chicken broth
1 cup (237 milliliters) milk
½ cup (75 grams) frozen peas
2 cups (8 ounces/227 grams) shredded cooked turkey
PYRAMID WEAVE DESIGN PROCESS
Parchment paper
Ruler
Rolling pastry wheel
Paring knife
1. To make the turkey pot pie filling, melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, sweet potato, carrots, celery, thyme, and rosemary and sauté until the onion is translucent and the vegetables tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Sprinkle in the flour and cook until the flour turns a golden amber, stirring frequently. As you continue to stir, slowly drizzle in the broth. Gradually add the milk and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened, about 7 minutes. Add the frozen peas and the turkey, season with salt and pepper, and cook 5 minutes more. Cool completely before filling the pie. (The filling can be made ahead and refrigerated.)
3. Roll the spinach dough disk into a 13-inch square. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unfurl it onto a sheet of parchment paper. Using a ruler as a straight edge and a rolling pastry wheel, cut the square into ¼-inch strips. Slide a flat baking sheet under the parchment and place the dough in the refrigerator.
4. Repeat this process with 1 whole wheat Cheddar chive dough disk. Slide the parchment sheet of Cheddar chive dough strips on top of the spinach strips and chill the strips for at least 10 minutes before proceeding.
5. Place the sheet of Cheddar chive dough so that the strips lay vertically and count out 23 strips. Set aside any extras. Set the sheet of spinach strips nearby.
6. The basic 6-row woven unit of the pattern is as follows:
ROW 1: On the Cheddar sheet, starting from the left, leave the first five strips and fold back the sixth. Continue and repeat leaving five, folding one twice more. Lay a perpendicular spinach strip along the middle and unfold the vertical Cheddar strips over it.
FOLDED CHEDDAR STRIPS: 6, 12, 18
UNFOLDED CHEDDAR STRIPS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
ROW 2: Starting from the left, leave the first four strips and fold back the next three. Count out three strips and fold back the next three. Count out another three strips and fold back three. Lay a perpendicular spinach strip, nestling it close to the first spinach strip, and unfold all the vertical strips over it.
FOLDED CHEDDAR STRIPS: 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19
UNFOLDED CHEDDAR STRIPS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23
ROW 3: Starting from the left, leave the first three strips and fold back the next five. Skip the next strip and then fold back five. Leave another strip and fold back the next five. Lay a perpendicular spinach strip and unfold all the vertical strips over it.
FOLDED CHEDDAR STRIPS: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
UNFOLDED CHEDDAR STRIPS: 1, 2, 3, 9, 15, 21, 22, 23
ROW 4: Leave the first two strips and fold back the third. Skip the next five strips and fold back the sixth. Count another five strips and fold the sixth strip back. Count five more strips and fold the sixth strip back. Lay a perpendicular spinach strip and unfold all the vertical strips over it.
FOLDED CHEDDAR STRIPS: 3, 9, 15, 21
UNFOLDED CHEDDAR STRIPS: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23
ROW 5: Leave the first strip and fold back the next three. Skip three strips and fold back the next three. Skip the next three strips and fold back the following three. Lay a perpendicular spinach strip and unfold all the vertical strips over it.
FOLDED CHEDDAR STRIPS: 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22
UNFOLDED CHEDDAR STRIPS: 1, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 23
ROW 6: Fold the first five strips back, skip the sixth, and fold back the next five strips. Skip another strip, fold back the next five, skip a strip, and fold back the last five.
FOLDED CHEDDAR STRIPS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
UNFOLDED CHEDDAR STRIP: 6, 12, 18
7. Repeat the weaving process for rows 1 to 6 until the vertical strips end.
8. Rotate the parchment 180 degrees. Repeat step 6 in reverse order; following instructions for rows 6 through 1.
9. Once you’ve completed the full weave, slide a flat baking sheet under the parchment and freeze the pie top for at least 30 minutes or until it can be easily lifted as one piece. Once the pie top has frozen solid, it can be wrapped well and used to top a pie at a later time. A well-sealed pie top will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Handle frozen pie tops gently as they can shatter.
10. While the weave freezes, roll the remaining disk of Cheddar dough into a 14-inch circle. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unfurl it over a 9-inch pie pan. Taking the edges of the dough, gently ease the dough into the pan, nestling it into the inner elbows of the pie pan. Trim the excess dough with kitchen shears to create a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhang back under, creating an elevated edge.
11. Fill the pie shell with the turkey filling and lightly brush the edge of the pie with water.
12. Remove the frozen weave from the freezer, pick it up as one solid piece, and lay it centered on the surface of your filled pie. Let it sit for a few minutes to thaw slightly and settle. Press to seal the edges and run a paring knife around the edge to trim the excess dough.
13. Chill the entire pie in the freezer until the oven has come to temperature. The pie can be frozen solid before baking or simply chilled through, about 20 minutes.
14. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
15. When the oven has come to temperature, place the chilled pie on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, then rotate the pie 180 degrees and lower the oven temperature to 400°F. If the edges are already brown, cover with a shield. Continue baking until the filling is bubbling rapidly and the top crust looks baked through in the center, checking every 30 minutes to rotate the pie and cover lightly with foil as necessary, 60 to 80 total minutes. (If baking from frozen, add 30 to 45 minutes to the bake time.)
16. Cool the pie completely on a rack before slicing and serving.
SUGGESTED SUBSTITUTIONS
Dough alternatives: Basic, Carrot, Spinach Pie Dough with poppy seeds
Filling alternative: Chicken
NOTE
The filling can be made 1 or 2 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.