Friday 26 February 2016

Vegan Chicken & Mushroom Pie





The release of vegan Quorn products late last year was pretty exciting for some of us.
Although there's currently only two (pieces and hot and spicy burgers) it's better than none and it's highly likely that they'll be more to come in the near future.
So the first thing I made with these quorn pieces was a pie. Because pie is amazing, comforting, and easy to make, but complicated enough that you can feel proud of yourself and people will ooh and aah at your culinary skills because most the time that cannot be bothered to make their own. (I'm guilty of filling my freezer with Linda McCartney pies, it's nothing to be ashamed of)

So let's crack on. You can make your own pastry or use a ready made one. Puff pastry is a personal pie preference but shortcrust will work just as good.
Jus Rol and Tesco do ready rolled and blocks of pastry, fresh and frozen.
I've added a basic shortcrust pastry recipe at the bottom of the page.

Will make 1 large pie or 4 individual pies.

Ingredients:

1 pack puff or shortcrust pastry, or home made pastry large enough to cover and fill a pie dish

1 large onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 leek, sliced
300g mushrooms (around 6 average sized)
1/2 packet Vegan Quorn pieces
1 heaped TBSP cornflour
300ml soy cream or milk (cream works best but either is fine)
300ml vegetable stock
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 bay leaves
Parsley, Thyme, Salt and Pepper (own amounts to taste)

Heat a TBSP oil in a large pan and fry onion, leek and carrots for 5 minutes on medium heat until they start to sweat.
Turn down to low and add mushrooms, frying for another 5-10 minutes.
Add Quorn pieces and stir over low heat for another few minutes.

Add the cornflour, spreading around and stirring so it coats everything in the pan. Add the cream/milk and vegetable stock gradually, then nutmeg, bay leaves, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper, stirring as you go. Turn up heat to high and keep stirring until the sauce is thickened. Add more herbs if needed.
If you want a runnier sauce just add a bit more veg stock or cream.
Remove from heat and set to one side.

Line your pie dish with your pastry, saving enough to cover the top.
Pour in your Quorn filling and put your pastry top on, sealing the sides by gently pressing with a fork, or rolling the edges to meet the sides.
Poke a few holes in the top with your fork or a knife and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until pastry is cooked and golden brown.
Serve with potatoes and veg, and loads of gravy!



For Shortcrust Pastry-

450g Plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
230g Dairy free margarine
6 tablespoons cold water

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the butter, rub it into the flour with your fingertips until its a crumb-like mixture. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of water over the mixture and gently mix with your fingers til it forms into a dough. 
If it is still dry add another tablespoon of water. Roll the dough into a ball and wrap it in clingfilm. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (this stops the pastry from shrinking)

2 comments: