Vegan Winter Pie

Intro:

This is one of my winter go-to recipes, hopefully the cross section schematic is easy to digest :)

It's a layer of 'what ever veggies we have', a layer of cranberry sauce, then I use sage and onion stuffing for the top 'crust' because I don't enjoy making pastry and stuffing is much nicer!

Ingredients:

There's no hard and fast rules just go with what have.

Base:

• Onions
• Brussels sprouts
• Carrots
• Parsnips
• Leeks
• Mushrooms
• Broccoli
• Garlic

Base sauce:

• Tomato pure
• Curry powder~2 tablespoons
• Black pepper
• Gravy
  

Mid:

• Cranberry sauce - For my dish it's about 1.5 jars (200g each) to get a good thick layer.

Top:

• Sage and onion stuffing - I use two packs of about 85g each.

Step 1: Prepare Veggies

Peel and chop!

I start with the things which take the longest to cook and get them in hot water while prepping the rest, here it's the carrots and parsnips.

Also set the oven warming now ~220oC.

Apparently, in some corners, there's some controversy over the preparation of Brussels sprouts. Do you just chop the bottom off, do you X the bottom etc?

I cut them in half, they cook quicker.

Quick splash in hot water:

• Carrots
• Parsnips
• Sprouts
• Leek
  

I pre-cook these veg before assembling, I find it quicker than trying to heat up a large pie and cook through to the middle.

In general everything gets ~5 minutes in boiling water and I give it a stab. I do like my veg to have a bit of 'bite' though!

I also pool things of a similar cook time, e.g. carrots and parsnips.

Step 2: Saucy!

Base sauce

The 'just about' cooked veg is put in a frying pan with some oil and fried, while this is happening add the sauce components are added.

• Veg gravy
• Tomato pure
• ~2 table spoons of curry powder, BUT it depends on your curry and pan sizes!
  • It should be a warming reminder of summer, not vindaloo pie.
• Black pepper

Once it all starts too thicken up load in to the dish.

While waiting for the sauce to thicken add water to the stuffing mix. I put a splash (~1 table spoon) of oil in as well, it's winter, need to keep the calories coming!

Step 3: Assemble

The base is veggies and sauce, then a nice layer of something fruity, I use cranberry sauce, then top with sage and onion stuffing!

Step 4: Bake

By now the oven should be up to temperature, add the pie. All components are pretty much cooked this is to make the stuffing top nice and crunchy.

I use ~220oC for about 20 minutes but this will want adjusting for different ovens.

Step 5: Eat!

It might go well with chips but we hack a big slice out and eat as is. It keeps well in the fridge and can be microwaved to re-heat.

So is it a pie? It doesn't have pastry... or sides?

According to The cube rule it's upside down toast.