Pot Pie
Plant-Based Pot Pie
*Serves approximately 6-8 *Ingredients - Pie Crust
2 cups - all-purpose flour ( 250 g )
1 tsp - sugar
1/2 tsp - salt
3/4 cup - cold vegan butter cut into cubes ( 175 g )
6 tbsp - ice cold water
Ingredients - Tofu + Marinade
16 oz - tofu ( cut into cubes )
1 tbsp - grapeseed oil'
2 tbsp - low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp - dried rosemary
1/2 tsp - dried thyme
1/2 tsp - garlic powder
1 tbsp - cornstarch
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Ingredients - Pie Filling
1 tbsp - grapeseed oil
2 tbsp - vegan butter
1 cup - diced potatoes
1/2 cup - diced white onion
1/4 cup - diced carrot
1/4 cup - diced celery
3 tbsp - chopped garlic
1 tbsp - chopped ginger
1 tbsp - soy sauce
2 tbsp - vegan butter ( for the roux )
1/4 cup - all purpose flour ( for the roux )
1 1/2 cup - warm vegetable stock
1 1/2 cup - full fat canned coconut milk
1/4 cup - frozen corn
1/4 cup - frozen peas
1 tsp - white pepper
1 tbsp - nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp - salt
1/4 tsp - dried thyme
1/4 tsp - dried rosemary
1/4 tsp - dried sage
1/2 cup - shredded or diced vegan cheddar cheese
Additional / Optional
1/4 cup - melted vegan butter
1 tsp - minced garlic
2 sprigs rosemary ( to rub the butter on the crust )
1/2 tbsp - Maldon Flakey Salt ( to garnish )
Tools you will need
A Large Glass Bowl ( Chilled )
Wooden Spoon or Spatula
9 Inch Pie Shell
A Rolling Pin
A large pot
Instructions
Step 1 - Gather all ingredients & prepare pie dough
There is nothing worse than going to make something and realizing you don’t have the stuff ! Gather all the essential mise en place and get started prepping all the pies components. I would recommend doing the pie crust first so it can rest in the fridge while you work on veggie prep.
Allow the bowl and the flour to chill in the fridge. This will help make a nicely flakey pie crust. Once chilled, pull it out and add in the sugar, salt and cold butter and massage it with your hands to allow the dough to start to form and come together. Once its mostly together, pour in that ice cold water and keep working the dough until a cohesive formed ball is created. Then leave the dough to set in the bowl back in the fridge for 1 hour.
While the dough is chilling chop up the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger and potatoes. After all the chopping is out of the way, cut your tofu into cubes and prepare the marinade so it has some time to sit and soak it all in.
Step 2 - Blind bake the base layer of the pie
Once the dough is done chilling, cut the ball in half and leave half of the dough in the fridge as that will be used for the top layer of the pie. On a floured work surface, roll out the pie crust and then carefully lift the dough over the pie shell, press it in and cut off any excess at the edges.
To do a blind bake, pre heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and once the oven is ready bake the base layer of the pie for 12 minutes and then pull out. When I do this I like to use parchment paper weighed down by some dried beans over to keep the parchment over the pie. This helps the pie crust to bake evenly without rising or moving around. Once the blind bake is done set the pie shell to the side to fill later.
Step 3 - Prepare the filling
Now that the tofu has been marinating place all the tofu cubes on a lined baking tray and air fry them till crispy. This is our chicken replacement so you could use your favorite vegan chicken or you can use this sort of faux chicken tofu recipe. You could bake them as well if you don’t happen to have an air fryer at home. I cooked these at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes, moving half way to allow them to cook evenly.
To prepare the filling itself, warm up a large pot and with a bit of oil and butter add in the potates and cook until golden and crispy. Once nice and golden, remove from the pot and set to the side. Now its time to saute the onions, celery and carrots till golden and then stir in the garlic and ginger. Once everything is nicely sauteed together, add a touch of soy sauce and stir. Once that has got some color, add in the vegan butter and stir it in so it melts. After the butter has melted, add in the flour and stir this all really well to allow a roux to form and keep it moving on medium heat. Allow the roux to brown up a bit and then with a whisk, stir in the vegetable stock slowly diluting the roux and building up the sauce.
I will add the video down below to sort of aid as a visual guide in case this part is a little tricky. Once all the stock has been whisked in, do the same process with the canned coconut milk.
Step 4 - Season the filling & bake the pie
Now for my favorite part, to season everything and watch it all come together. Add in the crispy potatoes and the tofu along with all the seasonings like the nutritional yeast, white pepper, salt, thyme, rosemary, and sage. Time for a little taste test and then to turn off the heat and let everything to carry over cook and slowly cool down on the stove top while we roll out the top layer of the pie crust.
Do a similar process to before on a floured work surface and roll out that remaining ball of pie crust from the fridge. Roll it out till its at least 9 and a half inches vertically and horizontally to unsure its big enough to cover the top. Once the filling has cooled down, scoop in the filling and layer in the cheddar cheese till the pie is nicely filled. Then all that’s left is to cover the pie with the remaining pie dough. Crimp the pie edges and then pop the pie in the oven and bake till nicely golden brown.
Step 5 - Garnish & serve
When the pie is fresh from the oven, I like to adorn the crust by brushing on some melted garlic butter using sprigs of rosemary. To finish, flakey salt is perfect to compliment and add a little flare to this very comforting dish.
Allow the pie to cool before cutting and serving then enjoy. The left overs can be saved in a food safe, air tight container for up to 5 days in the fridge.
