Whenever I look in my refrigerator and find a plethora of vegetables, I know it is time to make a vegetable pot pie. Use your favorite savory pie crust recipe. I use my recipe I learned in Paris. It is one I teach in my cooking classes because it is hard to describe the process to make it on paper. Making pastry is truly getting the feel for it. This recipe for Pot Pie is a little unusual because I add saffron to the sauce. It adds a little gourmet touch over the basic white sauce found in most pot pies. The other night, I experimented with throwing in some of the cooked vegetables from a Moroccan stew and they add a whole new dimension of flavor. Also, I did not have any fresh mushrooms so I soaked some dried shiitake and sliced them. I added some of the soaking mushroom broth to the sauce instead in addition to vegetable stock and omitted the cream. So the moral of the story is to experiment when making a pot pie. Any filling goes so look in your pantry and refrigerator and see what you can come up with. Please report back if you have a great success story.

1 recipe double savory pie crust

12 tbsp butter

2 cups yellow onion slices

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1 pinch saffron threads

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tbsp heavy cream

1 1/2 cups diced potatoes or sweet potatoes

2 carrots, diced

1/2 butternut squash, diced

1 head broccoli florets

8 oz button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 zucchini, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

3 tbsp chopped parsley

Make the pie crust and put it in the refrigerator.

Make the sauce by sauteing the onion slices in the butter until translucent and just beginning to brown. Add in the flour and saute a further 3 minutes. Slowly add the stock while stirring. Add saffron, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 more minutes then add the heavy cream. Stir and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat.

Cook the potatoes, carrots and butternut squash in boiling salted water until just tender. Set aside in a large bowl. Boil the broccoli until tender. Add to the potatoes.

Heat 2 tbsp butter in a saute pan. Saute the mushrooms until they just begin to release their liquid. Add the zucchini, and celery and continue to saute another 3 minutes. Add to the potato mixture.

Add the sauce to the vegetables and stir in the parsley. Adjust seasoning.

Line a deep pie dish or 3-quart casserole dish with the pie pastry. Add the vegetable filling. Roll out the second pie crust and top the pie.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 1 hour or until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbly.