Monday Yumday: Vegetable Pot Pie

For the holidays I made several of Allison’s recipes on a few different occasions. I’m not a chef, and I’m not that great at remembering to take photos of all my kitchen adventures, but here is a chronicle of my smashing success making Allison’s Vegetable Pot Pie.

Vegetable Pot Pie
From ‘Veganize It!’ in VegNews Magazine
by Allison Rivers Samson

For the vegetable filling:
4 teaspoons coconut butter
*Use unflavored coconut oil. I accidentally used regular, flavored coconut oil and it gave the whole dish a slightly coconutty flavor.
3 cups onion, chopped
1 1/3 cup carrots,1/4-inch diced
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 tablespoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup peas
2 1/2 cups potatoes, 1/4-inch diced, steamed for 15 minutes
*My second time making this recipe I didn’t have quite enough onions or mushrooms, so I substituted extra carrots and peas to make the measurements all correct and it worked out great!

For the Béchamel sauce:
*This step is not as scary as it sounds, despite the French name.
3/4 cup cashews
3 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6  tablespoons coconut butter
1/2 cup barley flour

For the crust:
2 cups barley flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons coconut butter
11 tablespoons water

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. For the vegetable filling: In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt coconut butter, and add onion. Saute for 5 minutes. Add carrots and mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes. Add paprika, basil, marjoram, salt, pepper, and saute 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in peas and steamed potatoes. Set aside.

2. For the Béchamel sauce: In a dry blender, grind cashews into a super-fine powder. Add water, salt, mustard, and nutmeg. Blend until smooth. Place medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt coconut butter, then add barley flour. Cook for 3 minutes, until roux is bubbly and begins to brown. Stir in cashew-cream mixture and cook 10 minutes, stirring regularly until thickened. Pour sauce over sauteed vegetable and stir to combine. Spoon into a 9×13-inch baking dish.

3. For the crust: In a large bowl using a fork, stir together the barley flour, tapioca flour, and salt. Blend coconut butter into flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal. Slowly add water and stir very lightly. On a floured board, roll out crust into a 1/3-inch thick rectangle. Carefully cover the vegetable-and-sauce mixture with crust, and then slice 10 vent holes into the top of the crust. Bake for 40 minutes, then increase the temperature to 400 for 10 additional minutes to brown the top. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Despite the misadventure with the flavored coconut oil, this vegan Pot Pie was a huge success at two different Thanksgivings, two days in a row. Everyone in my entirely carnivorous family really liked it.

P.S. Find more of Allison’s outrageously delicious vegan recipes here. If you make any, we always love to see your photos, so feel free to post to our Facebook and Twitter pages!