Updated: Dec 31, 2019
Plant-based, Vegan
I did not grow up with pot pie but I once had it at a Shabbat meal and fell in love!
The classic pot pie usually uses peas, carrots, and potatoes which is great, and actually, in Israel, they sell a frozen bag of these veggies already diced and the perfect size for a pot pie. So if you want to cut the cooking time of this in half that is a great way to go!
I wanted to experiment with this classic but use other veggies. I went with sweet potatoes which still have a creamy texture but a beautiful color, mushrooms that are similar to the peas and zucchini instead of carrots. I also used chopped spinach to add a nice green color.
The filling in this is so good I could have not added flour and eaten as a vegan chicken soup. Yummm!!!!
We also use tofu here instead of chicken. Wait wait, before I lose you! We break it into small pieces so it resembles chopped chicken and bake it until it’s crispy. I promise you it’s so good you will have to stop yourself from eating it all. Once in the pie, it really has a chicken texture and not the classic spongey texture of tofu. It’s awesome!
Ok so let’s jump in:
Ingredients:
Tofu Chicken:
- 1 block of tofu, drained and pat dry
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
Veggies:
- 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut to small cubes
- 2 cups, mushrooms chopped
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, diced
- 1 zucchini, cut to small cubes
- 1/2 cup defrosted chpped spinach, drained (optional)
Filling:
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil
- 1/3 cup flour
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
Crust:
- 2 cups white flour
- 1/2 cup oil
- 5 tbsp water
Method:
- TOFU CHICKEN: Pre-heat oven to 200c/ 395f on the broil setting. Break up tofu into small pieces. Spread on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Pour on soy sauce and incorporate together with hands or a spoon. Shouldn’t be too wet. Bake tofu for 10 min until browned and crispy. Mix at the half way mark.
- While the tofu is cooking dice the sweet potato and mushrooms and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake in oven at 180c/ 350f for 15 min until sweet potato is totally soft but not mushy.
- FILLING: Prepare the rest of the filling by dicing a half an onion, 2 garlic cloves and 1 zucchini. Heat olive oil in a pot and cook onions until translucent. Add the garlic. Then add in the cooked sweet potatoes and mushrooms, the zucchini and the defrosted chopped spinach. Now add in the spices and mix together. Then the flour, water and plant milk. It should be soupy. Pour in the baked tofu “chicken” and mix in. Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened. About 10 minutes. Make sure to keep stirring so the bottom of the pot doesn’t burn.
- DOUGH: In a medium size bowl add in the flour, water and oil. Mix and kneed with hands until the dough comes together. Should be able to roll out. If too dry add a bit of oil (1/2 tsp at a time) and if too wet then add in a bit of flour (1/2 tsp at a time). Roll into a ball and then cut in half. Half will be for the base and the other half will be for the top. Roll out one of the balls to the size of your dish. Use a 9 inch round dish. Depending on the depth of the filling will either make two pies or 1.
- If the dish is deep the half the crust won’t completely cover it. But ok it can just be the bottom of the dish a little of the sides. The deeper the dish the more moist the pot pie will be. Fill the dish with the filling until almost the top. Roll out the second ball of dough and using a fork close the edges. Also use the fork to puncture the top crust in a few places to let trapped air release. Brush olive oil over the top crust to help brown. Bake in oven at 180c/ 350f for 45 min. The filling is all cooked so it more about getting the crust cooked through and browned slightly on the top.
