When I became a vegetarian over four years ago, there were certain foods that I never stopped missing, and pot pies was one of them. I’ve never been a good enough cook to even fathom making a pot pie from scratch (I had no idea they’re so easy!), and besides, a vegetarian one wouldn’t taste nearly as good as a regular chicken pot pie.
But then I found the semi-perfect recipe! I say semi-perfect because their recipe called for mushrooms and a puff pastry crust, but since I’m not a fan of fungi and am too lazy for the puff pastry + ramekin combo, some alterations were needed.
So, without further adieu…
Lazy Vegetarian Pot Pies (makes 2)
*** I made the poptarts out of extra pie crust dough. Frosting was whipped up out of almond milk and powdered sugar. You can find my recipe for poptarts HERE.
What You Need:
olive oil
2 medium garlic cloves (diced)
1 large shallot (diced)
1 carrot (diced)
1 celery stalk (diced)
1 cup potatoes (small cubes)
2 rounded tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp almond milk (or whatever kind of cream/milk you have on-hand)
2 teaspoons fresh parsley (chopped)
1/2 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper, to taste
2 pre-made regular sized pie crusts (I used Pillsbury)
2 small pie tins
*** You can swap out any of the non-vegan, non-gluten-free ingredients for ones that are as well.
What You Do:
Preheat oven according to the pie crust package’s instructions
Sautee your veggies (minus the peas) in the oil until the shallot begin to look clear (about three minutes)
Add the potatoes, along with salt and pepper and cook for five more minutes, making sure to stir the potatoes so they don’t burn
Add the flour and make sure all the veggies are coated. Cook for a few minutes.
Add the vegetable broth and almond milk. Stir together and let simmer for five minutes until it thickens a bit.
Add the parsley and peas.
In your pie tins, line the bottom with the pre-made pie crusts. Then fashion a top from the remaining pie crust.
Add spoonfuls of your veggies and broth into the pie crust-lined tins, then cover with the pastry top.
Bake according to the pie crust package instructions.
Enjoy!
Messiness: Honestly, this is a lot less messy than you think it is. Aside from the chopping, you only need one pot to sautee + simmer. The pie tins are self-contained.
Simplicity: I remember watching my Grandma make pot pies when we’d come visit her. She’d shown me countless times how to do it, but I always lost attention because at some point, it seemed too advanced. Grandma was making this super tough thing look easy. Well, it turns out that it actually is just that easy!
Everything thickens up on it’s own, you really are just chopping and mixing, but you look like a pro!
Budget: The more people you make this for, the more economical it is. Sort of. Celery, carrots, peas, potatoes, parsley; these things are cheap and you get lots of them, which is nice. What gets pricey is the pre-made pie crust. Personally, my kitchen is TINY and there’s no room to roll out and prepare pie crust. However, if you do have room, pie crust is fairly inexpensive to make on your own, which would further cut down on the cost.
Delicious Factor: This is another one of those “A ha!” recipes that taste like home and you can’t believe they took you so long to discover. I live for summer, but these pot pies are making me anxious for fall!
Ramblings 