As I mention a moment ago in my post for Cherry Oat Scones, I was fortunate enough to be asked to post twice for this month’s Secret Recipe Club reveal today.
The second blog I was assigned was A Couple In the Kitchen. I love the tag line for their blog, “The couple that sautés together, stays together.” How much fun is that?!?!?! It sounds like this couple has a blast together in the kitchen. While looking through their blog I was really excited to see that they participate in Meatless Mondays. I had a tough time choosing which recipe I would make, but I narrowed the field down to two… Spicy Chickpea and Carrot Tangine or Rosemary Root Veggie Pot Pie. Ultimately I chose to make their Rosemary Root Vegetable Pot Pie because I have been meaning to veganize and gluten-free-ize (totally not a real word, but you know what I mean) a pot pie for a long time.
Since the Couple in the Kitchen used puff pastry, I knew that I would need to come-up with a vegan/GF savory pie crust and I did so pretty successfully. My goal was to reduce the overall fat content in the recipe and up the protein content. I also added some peas to the veggie mix since I am partial to peas in pot pie.
The end result was really REALLY tasty, but I did learn a few things that I will take with me the next time I make this (there will definitely be a next time). I had way too much filling for my family of four, so next time I am going to use a total of 4 cups of veggies (and will add sub in some parsnips for some of the potatoes) , but I will still make the same amount of sauce because I wanted the filling to ooze more than it did this time. I will also add 1 more cup of liquid to the sauce next time (equal parts broth and non-dairy milk) to make it a bit more loose (It was pretty darn thick, but that is probably due to the fact that I used GFree flour vs. wheat flour…adjustments always have to be made when converting recipes to GFree).
To view the original recipe click HERE.
INGREDIENTS
CRUST
3 Tbs. flax meal
¼ cup + 2 Tbs warm water
1 cup gluten free flour mix
1 cup almond flour
¼ tsp Herbamare
¼ cup Earth Balance Organic Coconut Spread or Earth Balance vegan butter spread
FILLING
4 cups of chopped fingerling potatoes
2 cups chopped baby carrots
1 cup frozen peas, defrosted
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary, with leaves removed from the stems
½ tsp dried thyme
Salt to taste
Small splash olive oil
SAUCE
2 Tbs. Earth Balance vegan stick butter
1/2 of a finely chopped onion
1 celery stalk, diced
1/4 cup gluten free flour
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup milk (I used So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk)
1 cup frozen baby peas, thawed
1 pkg. Trader Joes Organic Baked Savory Tofu (7 oz), chopped into ¼ – ½” cubes
Salt and pepper to taste
Non-dairy milk for brushing tops of pies
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
To make the crust begin by making your flax egg by combining the flax meal and warm water in a small bowl. Set the bowl aside to allow it to congeal.
Combine the gluten free flour mix, almond flour, and Herbamare in a mixing bowl. Once well mixed, cut in the coconut spread with a pastry cutter.
Once the coconut spread is completely cut into the flour mix, add in the flax add and mix until the dough forms a ball that easily stays together. If your dough is too dry add some water (I didn’t need to). Place the dough in a bag and put it into the fridge to rest and cool.
In a large bowl, toss the chopped potatoes and carrots with the olive oil, rosemary, thyme, and some salt. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for 30-45 minutes until tender.
When there is about 10 minutes of roasting time remaining, melt the butter in a medium stock pot over medium heat. Sauté the chopped onion and celery until softened, then add the flour. Cook for 2-3 minutes until it starts to brown.
Slowly stir in the vegetable stock and milk, and cook, stirring often, until thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the vegetables from the oven and add them to the gravy along with the peas and chopped pressed tofu; mix well. Cover and turn off the heat until you are ready to fill the pies.
For my pies I used a mini pie pan from Sur La Table. To prepare the pie dough for my molds I removed the dough from the fridge and rolled half of it out to about 1/8 of an inch thick. I then used the pie mold cutter and prepared the bottom halfs of each pie. I repeated the step with the remaining pie dough and prepared the top pie shells for each mold. I had enough pie crust and filling left that I used a bread pan and made a pot pie casserole of sorts.
Brush the tops of the pies and casserole with some So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk and put them in the oven for 15-25 minutes. The individual pies cooked in 15 minutes and I left the casserole in for 25 minutes.
