Spiced Coconut Pot Pies for Cold-Weather Comfort

The Chopped Dinner Challenge is a new series of recipes showing you how easy it is to cook like a winning Chopped competitor. Every week, FN Dish will showcase a recipe created by Food Network Kitchens that uses at least one of the Chopped basket ingredients, plus basic grocery goods and simple staples. Consider it your very own Chopped challenge. Just take this frequent tip from the judges: Don’t forget to season!
On this week's Chopped: Redemption, four former competitors returned to the Chopped kitchen to try their luck again with mystery basket ingredients. In the dessert round, two chefs faced off and cooked with bubble tea, papaya, coconut butter and chocolate-covered bananas. But for this Chopped Dinner Challenge, the featured item is coconut butter, which takes a savory turn in this recipe for Curried Pot Pies. Serve these personal-size pies to your family for a comforting dinner on a chilly fall day.
Coconut butter is a very versatile cooking fat that appears solid at room temperature, but turns into a liquid when heated up. Use it to saute onions, jalapeno and ginger for the base of this recipe. To take the coconut theme further, use coconut milk to thicken the broth of the filling and make it creamy. Use your favorite curry powder to add an exotic flavor. Stir in the cubed tofu and diced zucchini just before you're ready to assemble the individual pies. To do so, divide the curry among ramekins and top with a crumb mixture made with the coconut butter and panko breadcrumbs. Bake until bubbly, about 15 minutes or less. Serve the curried pies with lime wedges. This recipe would be a great option for your family's vegetarian night — or any day of the week.