Description
A hearty vegan pot pie with a rich, savory filling made with TVP, mushrooms, and vegetables in an herb gravy, topped with flaky puff pastry. Perfect for cozy dinners and Sunday lunches.
Ingredients
- 2 cups / 175g TVP (textured vegetable protein)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil (or half vegan butter), plus extra for brushing pastry
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon salt (I used Celtic sea salt)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2-3 celery stalks (depending on size), chopped
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 8.82 ounces / 250g button mushrooms* (around 9-10 mushrooms), chopped
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme*
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary,* chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ cup / 55ml dry red wine
- 2 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce)
- ¼ cup / 30g plain flour
- 1 vegetable stock cube*
- 1 cup / 120g frozen peas
- ¼ cup / 17g nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 sheet puff pastry
Instructions
- Prepare pastry: Before you start, check the thawing instructions for your puff pastry. They can vary greatly in how they are packaged. Flat-packed ones are typically 15 minutes at room temperature, and rolled ones can be up to 2 hours at room temperature. Check this first!
- Rehydrate the TVP: Place the TVP in a bowl and cover with boiling water, with an additional 1-2 inches to make sure that when they rehydrate, there’s enough liquid. Cover with a plate and set aside.
- Preheat oven: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit / 200 degrees Celsius.
- Build your flavor base: Place your cast iron skillet or casserole dish (any oven-safe dish that is around 11.8 inches / 30cm wide and about 2 inches / 5cm deep will work) on low-medium heat and add oil (3 tablespoons), diced onion, and ½ a teaspoon of the salt, sauteing for 7-10 minutes until the onions is soft, and is starting to brown a little. Don’t rush this process, as we are building flavor.
- Add aromatics & vegetables: Add in the minced garlic, chopped celery, and carrots, and cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables are nice and soft.
- Cook mushrooms: Next, add the chopped mushrooms, and saute for a further 5 minutes until they have cooked down and all the moisture has been cooked out.
- Deepen the flavor: Add the tomato paste (3 tablespoons), stirring until it starts to deepen in color and sticks to the vegetables.
- Add herbs: Add in the thyme and rosemary (1 teaspoon of each), and the bay leaf. Stir for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Deglaze: Add the wine (¼ cup) and tamari (2 tablespoons), and reduce for a couple of minutes. This will give the filling a lot of depth and flavor.
- Boil water: Put the kettle to boil with 2 2⁄3 cups / 650ml of water.
- Add TVP: Drain and rinse the rehydrated TVP and add it to the pan.
- Add flour: Coat everything with the flour (¼ cup), and mix well to incorporate the TVP and flour. Make sure there are no flour lumps.
- Make stock: In a jug, add the boiled water and crumble in the stock cube. Stir well to dissolve.
- Create gravy: Add the stock gradually to the skillet, mixing well in between each pour so that the sauce starts to thicken. Once you have added all the stock, simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should be a medium consistency. Not too thick, but not runny either.
- Finish filling: Add the peas (1 cup), nutritional yeast (¼ cup), and ground pepper (½ teaspoon), and the other 1/2 teaspoon salt, cooking for a further 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Remove the bay leaf.
- Prepare pastry: Check if your thawed pastry covers the skillet; if not, lightly roll between two sheets of parchment paper until it’s the right size. Fold in sections, and cut slits in the middle to let steam come out, and so that your pastry doesn’t puff too much. You can get creative with how you’d like to add the slits.
- Bake: Brush with some olive oil, and place in the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is nice and golden. (Remember to remove any silicone handle on your skillet before placing it in the oven.)
- Rest before serving: Remove from the oven, and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. Perfect served with a light fresh salad (suggestions earlier in the post), or steamed veggies.
Notes
Mushroom options: Cremini, baby bella, or mixed mushrooms all work well.
Fresh herbs: If using fresh instead of dried, use 1 tablespoon fresh thyme and 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (three times the dried amount).
Stock cube: Use a good-quality stock cube for the best flavor. You can also use 2 2/3 cups of prepared vegetable stock instead of making it from a cube and water.
Make it gluten-free: Use gluten-free puff pastry and replace the plain flour with cornstarch or a gluten-free flour blend.
Wine substitute: Replace red wine with extra vegetable stock plus 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar.
TVP substitute: Use 3-4 cups cooked lentils if you can’t find TVP.
