winter comfort: pancetta, white bean, swiss chard pot pies

Monday night Katie and I cooked pot pies from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. It was a little bit of work, making the pastry dough from scratch as well, but if you have two cooks in the kitchen it all gets done pretty efficiently. :) Deb Perelman suggests making these for company, because you can also do the components in advance and bake them later. To make: first make the pastry dough, make the pot pie filling (swiss chard, pancetta) and a gravy-like sauce (white beans), fill oven-save bowls, top with the pastry, and bake. The pastry is really flaky, buttery and delicious. If you left out the pancetta and used vegetable stock it would be great as a vegetarian recipe as well.

pastry:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
13 T butter (1 stick plus 5 T)
6 T greek yogurt
1 T white wine vinegar
1/4 cup ice water
(egg wash: 1 egg, beaten with 1 T water)

filling
2 T olive oil
4 oz pancetta, diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 large carrots, finely chopped
1 large stalk celery, finely chopped
2 portobello mushrooms, diced
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bunches swiss chard, finely sliced, plus stalks, chopped
fresh thyme

sauce
3 1/2 T butter
3 1/2 T flour
3 1/4 cups chicken broth
2 cups white beans (can cannellini beans)
we also grated in some gruyere cheese

1. make pastry: In a large, wide bowl, mix flour, and salt, and add in butter with a pastry blender, until it resembles small pebbles. Keep mixing until fine grain. In a separate bowl, mix yoghurt, vinegar, water, and then add to butter-flour mixture. Stir until it forms a dough - you might need to use your hands. Knead into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge 1 hour (up to 2 days).

2. make filling: Head oil, brown pancetta, stirring frequently. Remove to a plate with paper towels. Add a bit more oil to the pan and add onions, carrot, celery, red pepper flakes and salt. Cook until vegetables softened, 7-8 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms, cook 1 minute. Add chard and cook until wilted. Season with more salt and pepper to taste, add thyme. Transfer all vegetables to a bowl with the pancetta.

3. make sauce: Wipe out saucepan, add butter, melt. Add flour and whisk until combined. Cook 2 minutes, until it colors a bit. Whisk in broth, one cup at a time, mixing completely between additions. Let it cook, bringing to simmer, 10 minutes. It should thicken. Season with salt and pepper and grate in some cheese, if you want.

Preheat oven to 375.

4. assemble pot pies and bake: Divide the filling between 4 oven-proof bowls, and arrange on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan. Divide the dough into four pieces, and roll it out into rounds, so that it will hang 1 inch over the rim of the bowls. Drape it over the bowl and brush with egg wash. Cut decorative vents in each for steam to escape. bake 30-35 minutes, until crust is brown.