Chickpea Pot Pie w/ Cornbread Crust

With the temperatures finally getting below 60 here in the desert, I am making more winter friendly recipes. One of which was Joanne's amazing pot pie. The recipes she comes out with are amazing and I am pretty sure that unlike myself she has taken food photography classes because her pictures make you drool on your keyboard without even realizing it. So, no surprise here that when I saw this recipe, realized I had everything in the pantry to make it, I made it for dinner that night. The entire time I was thanking Joanne for posting it. I grew up on that frozen pot pie crap that you throw in the oven, yeah... you know what I'm talking about. I have since made my own pot pies but never made one with cornbread topping before! Why on earth did no one think of this before? I am pretty sure that as I mercilessly dug into my pot pie that night, I was saying all of this out loud to the Mr. Usually I ask him if he likes any of the new recipes I try but I am pretty sure I blurted out at the table "I hope you like this because I love it and plan on making this recipe a lot." I don't believe he complained but then again, I was too preoccupied devouring my dinner.



So aside from the fact that this is drool worthy another thing that I loved about this recipe... it was incredibly easy. You pretty much cook your filling in one pan, mix your cornbread topping in a bowl while everything is cooking and then you assemble and throw in the oven. I only made two ramekins for the Mr. and I and stored the filling and topping in two separate containers in the refrigerator for round two. I did change a couple of things. Instead of sugar I tried truvia sweetener (which you couldn't tell the difference) and because I am from Syracuse, I used Franks hot sauce. If you have a favorite hot sauce by all means use it.

• 2 c. chopped sweet potatoes
• 1/2 c. chopped carrots
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 c. AP flour
• 2 c. vegetable broth
• 2 c. cooked chickpeas
• 1/2 c. frozen baby peas
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• cracked pepper
• dash of Franks hot sauce
  
• 3/4 c. cornmeal
• 3/4 c. AP flour
• 1 TBSP baking powder
• 1 1/2 TBSP sugar/sweetener
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 c. almond milk or skim milk
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 large egg yolk, slightly beaten

1. Boil the potatoes and carrots until tender but not soft and set aside.
2. Spray a 2-quart casserole with cooking spray (or ramekins!)
3. For the filling, heat a large saucepan until hot. Add the oil and onions. Saute onions until they are soft, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the 1/4 cup flour and mix. Slowly pour in the vegetable stock whisking well with a wire whisk. Still using the whisk, cook the mixture over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chickpeas, peas, cooked potatoes and carrots, salt, pepper to taste, and hot sauce. Cook on medium heat until the mixture is heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes. turn into the prepared casserole dish, spreading evenly or divide evenly among ramekins.
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
5. For the crust, in a bowl combine the cornmeal, 3/4 cup flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In a small bowl, combine the milk, oil and egg yolk. Add to the dry ingredients and mix until uniform but a bit lumpy. Spoon the batter evenly over the filling.
6. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 22 to 25 minutes for the casserole and 10 to 12 minutes for the ramekins.

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Just Another Meatless Monday