Biscuit Pot Pie

Here's a good, cheap meal idea that I made for dinner tonight and thought I'd share. I love having good ways to use leftovers, because otherwise they sit around in the fridge until we forget about their existence, and then they start to "multiply and replenish," growing lots of foul-smelling fuzzy creatures that threaten to take over the fridge ... yuck ...

Anyway, this is a delicious way to repurpose a good thick, hearty soup or stew. Tonight I used some potato soup made with ground beef and shredded carrots. Yum! It would be good with any soup or stew that's thick and chunky - chicken soup, bean soup, minestrone, chowder, hamburger stew, whatever! You could even use leftover casserole - just thin it to the consistency of stew with a bit of milk or broth.

Sorry about the pictures - they were an afterthought, I didn't think to take pictures and post this until after I'd already eaten my first serving and realized how delicious it was. Add the fact that it's evening and I had energy-efficient lighting - yikes.

Biscuit Pie for Leftover Soup
Leftover thick and chunky soup or stew (or thinned casserole)
Biscuit dough (recipe to follow)

Spread soup in a baking pan - you can use a small square pan or pie dish for a small amount of soup, or a 9x13 for a larger amount. You want it to spread to no more than 2 inches thick - the thicker it is the longer it will take for the biscuit topping to cook through. For reference, I had about 2 cups of potato soup and used a 9-inch pie plate.

Drop large spoonfuls of biscuit dough on top of soup, spreading slightly so that they're flat. Bake at 450 for about 20 minutes, or until biscuits are browned and cooked through. If you want, spread some butter or margarine on each biscuit after removing from oven.

Yes, I agree. I really should have used a clean bowl for the picture instead of just tossing it all into the bowl I had already eaten out of. Sorry... But it really is delicious!

Biscuit dough for Pie
Small pan (8- or 9-inch square, pie dish, etc):
1 cup flour (can use part wheat flour)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup milk

Large pan (9x13 or larger):
2 cups flour (can use part wheat flour)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup milk

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening with pastry cutter, two crisscrossed knives, or a fork, until the mixture resembles crumbs. Stir in milk with a fork until blended. Drop by large spoonfuls onto soup. For my 9-inch pie plate tonight, I used the smaller batch and ended up with about 7 biscuits. You'd probably get 12 or 13 from the large batch.

*To use this dough for making actual drop biscuits - simply drop dough by large spoonfuls onto greased baking pan and bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes.

Voila! A delicious and easy meal that uses up leftovers and can be on your table in half an hour. I love cheap cooking! ;-)