Veggie Pot Pie: A vegan, affordable, and healthy(ish) alternative to turkey!

Inspired by and adapted from Bon Appetit: 

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/all-butter-pie-dough

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/mushroom-and-lentil-pot-pies-with-ouda-biscuit-topping

We wanted to make it easier for you, your family, and your friends to enjoy a more earth, health, and wallet-conscious centerpiece dish this Thanksgiving. 

This veggie pot pie recipe incorporates affordable seasonal produce, as well as lentils to make sure you’re not missing out on protein! Making your own dough isn’t as hard as it seems, and the fact that no weird equipment is needed, means that anyone with access to a kitchen can pull this off.

Tons of substitutions could work to make this work with ingredients or equipment you already have! You could substitute 1/2 of a cup normal, unsalted butter and 1 teaspoon of salt for the vegan butter. It would be easy to swap out any of the fall vegetables for whatever’s easy for you to find, like with squashes, turnips, and parsnips. Depending on the size/depth of your baking dish, you could increase the volume of vegetables and lentils! Also, you can use or combine any herbs that you have around or love, such as thyme or rosemary, as well as substitute the fresh herbs with 2 teaspoons of dried herbs.

Based on the prices at our local Trader Joe’s, the cost of buying all of the ingredients would be about $25.88. The cost for just the amount of ingredients used is only about $9.16. Since a turkey that would feed 8 people (around 10 pounds) is around $19 ($1.89 per pound), the veggie pot pie comes out way ahead, price-wise.

(Source: Leonela Leon)

Veggie Pot Pie

Serves: 8

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup chilled vegan butter, cut into ⅓ inch pieces

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Filling

• 1/2 cup lentils

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 5 cups fall vegetables cut into 1/3 inch cubes (I used carrots, potatoes, and acorn squash)

• 1 large yellow onion, chopped

• 6 cloves garlic 

• 2 tbsp flour

• 8 oz mushrooms 

• 3 cups vegetable broth 

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 2 tbsp fresh sage

Instructions

To make the dough, add flour and butter to a big bowl. Cut the butter into flour with two forks or knives, until the mixture resembles coarse meal with pieces of butter still visible.

Combine the vinegar and 1/4 cup of ice water in a measuring cup. Drizzle in the vinegar mixture and mix gently, until the dough just holds together when squeezed - it should still be crumbly.

(Source: Leonela Leon)

Turn out the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and use the plastic to press it into disk. Wrap and chill until firm; this will take about 2 hours.

To start the filling, combine 3 cups cold water, lentils, and a 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a medium saucepan; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the lentils are tender (25 to 30 minutes). Drain the lentils and set them aside.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

To continue the filling, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onion. Sauté 3 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon oil, tomato paste, sage, and fall veggies. Sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. 

Reduce heat to medium-low.  Mix flour into vegetables; cook 1 minute. Add broth. Cover; simmer until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally for 13 to 15 minutes. Add lentils; season with salt and pepper. 

Take the dough out of fridge, and roll out to a circle about ½ an inch wider than the diameter of your baking dish.

Add in the filling to a pie dish, about 9 inches in diameter. Lay the dough on top, folding its edges over the sides of the pan, cutting a small pattern on top for some steam to escape.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, and enjoy!

(Source: Leonela Leon)