Ham, Broccoli, and Cheese Pot Pies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare the sauce. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat and whisk in the flour. Once it begins to bubble, cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in the milk and the dry mustard. Bring to a low boil and simmer for about 3 minutes, or until very thick, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low. Temper one egg by VERY careful adding a VERY small amount of the sauce to it, being sure to keep your whisk going. Add a little more sauce, whisk, and repeat until you’ve added about 1/4 cup of the sauce and the egg feels close enough in temperature to the sauce to not cook when added. Add the egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Add all but 1/4 cup of the cheese and stir until melted. Add the seasonings.

In a separate bowl, combine the broccoli and ham. Pour cheese sauce over the top. There may be a little more sauce left over, but add it all if you want. It’s up to you. Spoon the filling into 4 individual crocks. I over-filled mine a little until I got all the filling distributed.

Roll out your dough. Try to go as thin as you dare to stretch the dough over the tops. Cut into circles (I used an overturned soup/large cereal bowl). Place circles on top of crocks and seal the edges around the top. Cut a slit in the top, brush with an egg wash using the remaining egg, and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup cheese on top.

Put all four pots on a baking sheet and bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until crust is brown and you can hear/see the cheese sauce bubbling inside. It’s okay if some of it spills over. If crust reaches a golden brown before the cheese sauce is bubbling, place foil on top of the crusts.

By the way, this cheese sauce recipe is pretty much the same as PW’s sauce for her mac ‘n’ cheese. I just used half as much pepper and found some of the directions to work differently for me.

Note: this can also be done as a one-pot pie in a pie pan or tart dish.