Nothing really beats a pie when it’s cold. I think we can all agree with that.

We don’t think it’s fair that beef and chicken get all the glory when it comes to pies, (although they are amazing!) so we wanted to come up with a veggie and vegan alternative using mushrooms that didn’t lose any of the richness and comfort of it’s meat-filled cousins. Of course, you don’t have to follow a veggie or vegan to enjoy this, give it a go as an alternative and we reckon you won’t be disappointed!

Type of dish: Main
Cuisine: British
Suitable for: Vegetarians / Vegans
Serves: 6
Calories: 463 per portion

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: minutes

Ingredients

1 packet dried porcini mushrooms
500 grams mixed mushrooms (chestnut/portobello/oyster/button)
1 carrot
1 stick celery
1 large white onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
4 sprigs thyme
1 handful of flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
2 tablespoons plain flour
4 tablespoon oil
1 block shop bought shortcrust pastry (vegan)
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 220 C / Gas 7. Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with 300 millilitres of boiling water, set aside for 15 minutes.

Half the onion, and roughly chop one half, place on a baking tray with a little oil and roast in the oven for 15 minutes until beginning to burn. Turn the oven down to 180 C. Remove the onion and place into a saucepan and cover with 300 millilitres of water and boil for 10 minutes. then drain reserving the liquid.

Grate the remaining onion, celery, carrot and garlic, and sweat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper in a pan over a medium heat until soft. Roughly chop the mushrooms and add to the pan with the other vegetables, turn up the heat and fry for five minutes until the mushrooms start to take on a little colour.

Add the vinegar and soy sauce and cook for a further minute. Take off the heat and stir in the thyme leaves and finely chopped parsley, check the seasoning and set aside to cool.

In a new pan heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add the flour. Keep stirring until the flour has combined with the oil, around 2 minutes. Add the mushroom water and the onion stock (about 500g) whisking constantly until there are no lumps and you have a smooth thick sauce. To this add the rehydrated wild mushrooms and mustard and continue to simmer, stirring for 2 minutes.

Add the mixture to a blender, season with salt and pepper and blend on high for 1 minute until smooth.

Roll out the pastry to the size of a pound coin. Add the mushroom mixture to a pie dish or baking dish (around 35 x 20cm) cover with the pastry lid and crimp the edges to seal. Wash with a drizzle of olive oil and bake in the oven until nice and brown, round half an hour.

Serve with potatoes and greens of your choice.

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