Ham and Mushroom Pot Pie

I had some of the leftover New Year's ham in the fridge that I certainly did not want to go to waste! We've had breakfast biscuits with ham, and all sorts of sandwiches already. So I decided I would try a pot pie with ham instead of chicken. I didn't want to the usual vegetables like peas and carrots that you'd normally associate with a chicken pot pie. 

This version has fresh mushrooms, onions, along with spinach and Gruyere cheese. It was absolutely delicious and I will always remember to make another one of these delicious savory pies the next time I have leftover ham.

You can certainly lighten up the recipe by using a "healthy request" type soup and low fat sour cream.

2 T. butter or olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

8 oz. mushrooms, chopped (your choice on which type mushroom you prefer)

2 cups diced ham

8 oz. fresh spinach 

1 can cream of mushroom soup

8 oz. sour cream

1 t. dried thyme

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

a few grinds of black pepper

1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese (or Swiss)

Pie crust for top and bottom (packaged or homemade)

1 egg beaten with 1 t. water

In a large skillet heat butter or olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions become clear and mushrooms soften.

Next, add in the cubed ham and let mixture cook until ham begins to brown, another 5 minutes or so.

Now it's time for the spinach. Add a few handfuls at a time, allowing to wilt before adding a little more. 

When all the spinach has wilted and cooked down, your mixture should look like this. Turn off heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together soup, sour cream, thyme, nutmeg, and pepper. Add to the ham and vegetable mixture and stir to combine.

My favorite part! The cheese is added next and stirred into the hot mixture and allowed to melt.

Taste your filling at this point. The ham and cheese (along with the soup) will have salt. You probably won't need to add any additional salt to the filling. That's your call!

Preheat oven at this point to 375 degrees F.

Place one of the pie crusts into a pie plate. Press crust down into the plate and add filling.

Now add your top crust and either make a gorgeous decorative border for the edges, or do like I did and press the edges together with a fork to seal. I call this version "RUSTIC" which sounds better than "I can't make a gorgeous decorative border."

Using a pastry brush, coat the entire top of pie crust with the egg wash you mixed up earlier. Cut a few slits in the top crust with a knife.

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until golden brown. If crust begins to brown too much cover the edges with foil. Let rest for a few minutes before serving. Isn't that pretty?