Mushroom Pot Pie

By Ramona Cruz-Peters of Fab Everyday

It’s March 14th tomorrow, A.K.A. Pi Day! To celebrate the occasion, I’m sharing a savory, hearty, and completely vegan pot pie. The delicious plant-based pot pie recipe is at the bottom of this post, but here are some tips for making this Mushroom Pot Pie to perfection for Pi Day.

You start by sautéing vegetables, then simmering them in a homemade mushroom gravy. After they are done simmering, place them in a 9” pie baking dish. Be careful not to overfill the pan; depending on the size of the vegetables you use and the depth of your pie pan, you may have some sauce leftover.

To make the plant-based pie crust, I find that using a food processor to mix the dough saves a lot of time and effort. The first step is to mix flour, salt, and chunks of cold vegan butter substitute (my favorite is Earth Balance) and vegetable shortening.

After pulsing them together in the food processor, they become well-blended and crumbly, like the photo above. The next step is to mix in ice cold water.

Slowly add 2-3 tablespoons of ice cold water to the food processor (I recommend starting with 2 then seeing if more is needed after mixing) and mix until the dough sticks together and looks like the picture above.

Roll the dough into a ball on a floured surface, then roll out with a rolling pin into a 9” circle. Lay the dough on top of the mushroom mixture in the pie pan and poke some holes in the top. I like to keep it simple and use a fork, but you can always crimp the edges of the crust for presentation purposes and add some slits to the top of the dough with a knife.

The final step is to bake the Vegan Mushroom Pot Pie in an oven until the crust is golden.

Here’s the recipe! Enjoy, and happy Pi Day!

Serves 4-6 | Prep time: 15 minutes; Cook time: 1 hour; Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

vegan, nut-free, dairy-free

Ingredients

For Mushroom Filling

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups sliced baby bella mushrooms
1 cup sliced button mushrooms
½ cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cup vegetable broth
1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

For crust

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegan butter substitute (such as Earth Balance), cold and cut into cubes
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, separated into chunks
2-3 tablespoons ice water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and onion to the skillet, and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes (until the mushrooms are sweating and reduced in size).
Pour the flour over the mushroom mixture and stir to combine. Slowly add the vegetable broth to the skillet, stirring to blend with the flour. Mix in the tomato paste, thyme, salt, garlic powder, and pepper, and stir until the tomato paste is mixed thoroughly into the gravy and the sauce has thickened (about 2 minutes).
Add the carrots, potato, and parsley to the skillet and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Pour the mushroom mixture into a 9” pie pan (being careful not to overfill the pan; depending on the size of the vegetables you use and the depth of your pie pan, you may have some sauce leftover), and allow to cool for a few minutes while you prepare the dough in the next steps.
In a food processor, add the flour, salt, chunks of cold vegan butter substitute, and shortening. Mix in the food processor until well blended and resembling crumbs.
Add 2 tablespoons of ice water to the food processor and blend. The dough should start forming together, but if it still seems dry, you can gradually add up to 1 more tablespoon of ice water.
Roll the dough into a ball on a floured surface, then roll out with a rolling pin into a 9” circle. Lay the dough on top of the mushroom mixture in the pie pan and cut slits in the top (you can also poke holes with a fork). Optional: crimp the edges of the crust for presentation purposes.
Bake the pot pie in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until the crust is golden. Allow to sit on the counter for 5 minutes before serving.