This fun and festive Thanksgiving Leftover Gobbler Pie is super easy to make, with a easy and foolproof hot water crust, and a handful of leftovers from your fridge!
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Sure, you could make a turkey sandwich or some soup with your Thanksgiving leftovers. That's fine. OR- you could make this elaborate and festive THANKSGIVING LEFTOVER GOBBLER PIE!
Made with a tried and true hot water crust from Food52, this pie is super easy to pull together, and a delicious and unique way to use up those leftovers. And the turkey design on top is fully optional, but I mean c'mon- we all know that's why you're here!
What's in the pie?
I mean the beauty of this pie is it's whatever you want it to be. I consider turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes staples of a traditional Thanksgiving meal, so I used them to fill my pie. But go nuts! Got some green bean casserole in the fridge? Throw it in! Want to sprinkle corn in there? Go for it! This pie is anything you want it to be. Except super wet- so don't go too crazy with the gravy.
And speaking of gravy...
YES we are layering leftover gravy in here! You wanna go with about 1 cup or less per layer, and make sure you've got something with some heft to it in the crust first before applying it. I layered my pie as follows:
- ▪ Crust
- Mashed Potatoes
- Gravy
- Turkey
- More Gravy
- Stuffing
When you layer it like this, the gravy has a place to be, and something to soak into. This is ideal when building your pie.
The combos are endless, and totally up to you!
Building the turkey top crust
To make the easy and fun turkey top, I made a second batch of hot water crust, and used circle and heart shaped cookie cutters to build the feathers, body, and face. Once the full body is built and pressed into the outer crust, it gets a generous egg wash, and then into the oven it goes!
Bake it on a cookie sheet to collect and grease for about 1 hour, until it's super crispy and golden!
When it's baked and slightly cooled, you can finish decorating it by adding piping some mashed potatoes for eyes, and "gluing" on a carrot triangle for a nose! Add a couple peppercorns to the eyes, and go ahead and pipe more mashed potatoes around the edges!
Stand back and admire your adorable pie!
Want to give this recipe a try?
If you make my Thanksgiving Leftover Gobbler Pie, please be sure to leave me a comment! I would love to hear from you, and value your feedback! Lastly, if you make the recipe and love it, please tag me on Instagram! I love to see your photos!
Looking for more fun holiday recipes? Why not try my Pumpkin Spice Martinis, Mouthwatering Mushroom Gravy, Smoked Oyster and Mushroom Stuffing, or Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese with Caramelized Onion!
Thanksgiving Leftover Gobbler Pie
Equipment
- 9"-10" springform pan
Ingredients
Food52 Hot Water Crust* (double batch)
- 6 cups all-purpose flour*
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup water
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup vegetable shortening*
Fillings
- 2 ½ cups leftover stuffing
- 2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
- 2 ½ cup leftover turkey or chicken, shredded
- 1 ½ cups turkey or chicken gravy
- cranberry sauce and additional gravy, for serving
Instructions
- Before making your crusts:Have your filling ready and semi-warm before beginning the hot water crust recipe. You can fill your pie with any leftovers you like! I stuck with the basics. Directions for Food52 Hot Water Crust:I made 2 separate batches of hot water crust for this recipe. One to line to springform/be the base of the pie, and one for the top to cut out the turkey shapes. Aside from substituting 100% all purpose flour, I followed the recipe exactly. All steps are as written on their site. 1. In a large bowl, whisk the all purpose flour, the bread flour, and the salt to combine. 2. In a medium pot, bring the water to a boil over medium heat. Add the butter and lard and stir until melted. The mixture should be hot—if needed, bring it back to a simmer briefly. 3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and pour the hot liquid into it. I usually start mixing it with a fork—but a silicone spatula or wooden spoon works too. Mix until the mixture forms a shaggy mass: It should form a ball but not look smooth. 4. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it on a clean, smooth surface until it’s smooth, 2-3 minutes. 5. You have to work with the dough while it’s still warm—divide the dough as needed for your recipe. You can roll the dough out (between two sheets of parchment paper is best and helps prevent sticking, ripping, and tearing). You can also press the dough into a pan. For deep dish pies, I tend to opt for a combination—rolling the dough out, then patching the holes as needed—just be sure to patch well! You want smooth sides and no chance for leakage.Decorating and Baking the pie:To make the turkey, I made a double batch of the Food52 Hot Water Crust. I waited until the first batch was all ready to go in the springform before making and working with the second batch of dough, as it should be hot when worked with for best results. 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Fill your bottom crust with leftovers! I layered my pie like so: mashed potatoes, gravy, turkey, more gravy, stuffing. Just be sure to start with a hearty layer! 2. Once dough is prepared as in steps above, roll out the dough thinly between 2 sheets of parchment. Remove top layer of parchment, and cut circles in dough with a large cookie cutter, and arrange them around the edge of the pan, overlapping. Press into crust edges to seal. 3. To make the center feathers, cut 2 heart shapes with a cookie cutter, and arrange them in the center- one on the left, one on the right. Make a slit along the middle of each heart shape. 4. Cut another large circle, and place over the heart shapes to form the turkey body. 5. Using a small circular cookie cutter or shot glass, cut a small circle for the turkey’s face, and place over top body circle. Press gently to set all pieces. 6. Once all pieces are set, Make a vent hole with a skewer or knife in the center of the pie. 7. Brush the entire top generously with beaten egg to coat. 8. Transfer springform to a baking sheet and transfer to preheated oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, and bake until golden and crisp. 9. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before finishing decorating. 10. To make the face, I used leftover mashed potatoes as the white of the eyes, and and glue for a triangle of carrot I cut for the nose. The center of the eyes are black peppercorns. 11. If you want to go extra fancy- pipe additional mashed potatoes around the “feathers”! 12. Once fully decorated, carefully remove outer ring of springform, slice and serve!
*Notes/Substitutions:
I used the Hot Water Crust recipe from Food52 for this recipe. However- I did not use any bread flower, and I did opt to go with vegetable shortening. It was delicious! I am sure it is just as good with the bread flower added for strength, and lard, if it's easily accessible to you.
You can use any leftovers you like for this recipe! I just went with Thanksgiving staples, but go nuts! Just try and keep anything extra liquidy to a minimum.
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