Cozy Autumn Vegetarian Pot Pie

“There is nothing better on a cold wintry day than a properly made pot pie.”

It’s been very grey and rainy for the past two days. I find it hard to wake up in the morning when it’s so dark. Don’t get me wrong, I love this time of year on the coast; the mist carried in from the ocean obscures the mountains and I can walk in the woods in my L.L Bean boots and soft flannel plaid shirts. So I set an alarm but even at 9 am I needed to turn lights on and the rained poured down.

It’s been over a year that we switched over to a mainly plant based diet. This pie is almost Vegan, all except for the crust which has butter. You can be as creative as you’d like with this one and add other veggies like asparagus. As I write, the pie is bubbling away in the oven and I’ve just realized I had a bit of broccoli left in the fridge that I should have added but it’s good.

You will need:

3 small leeks chopped into thin coins (just the light green – white part of the leek)

Coconut Oil

2 cups of chopped white button mushrooms

3 stalks of Celery chopped

1/2 a Yam chopped into small cubes

1.5 tsp of dry Thyme

2 Tblsp Flour

1/2 of unsweetened Almond Milk

1/2 cube of organic Veggie bouillon

1 cup frozen Peas & Carrots

1 large can of Lentils

2 Tblsp Balsamic Vinegar

Garlic and Onion Powder to taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

I used a “just roll” pie dough, so convenient. You can keep them in the freezer. They only need about 15 minutes on the kitchen counter to de-frost so I left it out while I made the pie filling.

To Make:

Set your oven on Bake to 425 degrees.

Add coconut oil to a large deep skillet on the stove and start by frying up the leeks for about 5-6 minutes until soft.

Next add the Mushrooms, cook until soft followed by the Yams. Let Yams cook a few minutes to soften and add the Celery to the pan and mix everything together until fragrant.

Sprinkle the Flour and mix into the veggies then slowly add the Almond Milk, stirring. You want the mixture to thicken so add the Almond milk until it reaches the thickness you want. Lower the heat so that it doesn’t continue to thicken too much or scorch.

Season the mixture with Thyme, Garlic & Onion Powder and crumble the bouillon cube into the mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the frozen Peas & Carrots then the Lentils and stir to combine.

Lower the heat to low, add the Balsamic Vinegar, stir and taste. Now you can adjust the flavour with more salt, garlic powder or whatever you think it needs.

Transfer the mixture into you pie plate and cover with pie crust. Make a few slices into the crust to allow steam to escape. I sprayed the top of the pie shell with a tiny bit of oil – if you eat eggs you can brush the crust with eggs.