Cottleston Pie is a bona fide Winnie the Pooh invention. Until A.A. Milne wrote a poem about it in Winnie the Pooh, it never existed. The playful little poem explains that every creature is unique and acts according to its nature, essentially saying that we’re all what we’re made to be. Simple enough, right?

Since then, Cottleston Pie has become synonymous with accepting oneself and others as we are, a wonderful “winniesque” philosophy! The recipe I use here is from was inspired by a recipe from the official  Winnie the Pooh Cookbook (after publishing this, I found a new ingredient that inspired me to make some changes to the initial recipe, so this is the updated version). Like many savory pies, it leaves a lot of room for personal flair, so I turned it into a pot pie…and wound up making so many other tweaks that it turned into a recipe all its own. Enjoy!

Cottleston Pie

“Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie,
A fly can’t bird, but a bird can fly.
Ask me a riddle and I reply
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie!”
— Winnie the Pooh

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry
• 2 cups chopped or shredded pre-cooked chicken
• 2 small or 1 large baking potato
• 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
• 3/4 cup frozen peas
• 3 strips bacon (not pictured, because I decided to add them on a whim)
• 1 egg (if you decide to brush the top of the puff pastry with egg yolk)
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tbsp butter cut into tiny dots
• 1/2 cut grated sharp white cheddar cheese
• Ok, forget everything else in the picture and use this instead: Campbell’s Creamy Herb and Garlic Soup starter. I just discovered this recently, and it makes a much better base than the original recipe. Last week, I used the starter just to save time when making this recipe for dinner, and I LOVED the difference. NOTE: Campbell’s isn’t paying me for this plug (though they probably should).

 

Makes either two 5 1/2″ pies or four 3″ pies.

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Before you get started, preheat the oven to 400°.
2. Peel, boil, and dice the potatoes into 1/2″ cubes.
3. Fry up your bacon and finely chop it into little bits.

   

4. Unfold the puff pastry onto a cutting board. Overturn some ramekins onto the puff pastry (either two 5 1/2″ ramekins or four 3″ ramekins). With a small knife, cut around the circumference of each ramekin to create a puff pastry circle.
   
5. Mix the chicken, potatoes, bacon, green onions, and peas in a bowl and add the mix to the ramekins, until each ramekin is filled 3/4 of the way. Set aside.
   
6. Add the soup starter to the ramekins (just enough to thoroughly coat the meat and veggies) and stir it up.
7. Place the puff pastry circles you cut out earlier over the top of each ramekin. If you want, whisk an egg in a small bowl and brush it over the puff pastry.

   

8. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake them for approximately 30 minutes (less, if you choose not to brush the top of the pastry).
9. Remove the pot pies from the oven when the crust has slightly browned and flakes away when poked with a fork.

   

10. Serve hot at a Very Nearly Tea or while reading “Cottleston Pie” in Winnie the Pooh! 🙂
    

 

 

 

 

Here’s the Yummly printable!

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