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Pot Pie crust question

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I'm a pot pie n00b and I'm ashamed to admit it.. but not so ashamed I won't ask for help.

I'm planning on re-purposing some leftovers into pot pies and I was thinking it'd be awesome to make them in our large ramekins so they'd be individual (and each diner would get a higher crust ratio).

But wanted to be sure my technique would work... I *thought* i'd put pie pastry in buttered ramekins.. try to smooth out as best I can and then pre-bake a bit .. then I'd fill them with COOL filling.. cover with raw pastry and bake until top pastry is brown? Like 350 deg? Will my filling be warm by then? Will my bottom crust NOT be mush? My filling will be a very firm gravy (especially since it'll be cool, not cold).

Should I use warm filling? Should I not pre-bake bottoms? Should I not USE bottoms and just use a top crust? What would you do or what have you done?? Should I just go buy shallow pie tins that are smaller sized?

TIA 4Help!

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  1. Bottom crusts don't work that well in ramekins.

    Why not cover with puff pastry?

    1 Reply
    1. re: C. Hamster

      Yeah, what she said.

      I would just do a single top crust.

      If you really wanted a double-crust pot pie, get pie tins as you surmised.

    2. You should use a very short Dough and cook the bottom Crust fully before filling. Remember that you are GREATLY increasing the Dough to Filling ratio. You will need more Dough and less Filling. I would also make the Filling looser.
      It would be best if the Filling is at Room Temp.
      Personally I would only do a top Crust for individual Pies.

      1. Personally, I like a pot pie with a bottom crust but that does make it trickier. Yes, blind bake first.
        You won't be able to join the baked bottom crust to the raw top one, so make it easier by baking the top rounds separately, on a baking sheet. You can use a cookie cutter in a flower or other round shape, for visual appeal. Then just put your hot cooked filling into the baked bottoms -
        ramekins or mini-tins, lay the baked lid atop it, and bake just a few minutes to get the edges of the sauce golden-brown.

        1 Reply
        1. thanks all for replies. I'm going to go "bottomless" and simply do a nice, thick lid on the big ramekins. Perfect idea and I agree- if I would have filled the bottoms there would have barely been room for filling!

          Will post results tomorrow night.

          1 Reply
          1. re: e_bone

            Forgot to post outcome. Crust was great but filling too salty. Oops. Also learning experience : cutting slits in lids too large created big holes in finished pies.