As I write this, we’re expecting a week of single digit (and even negative digit!) highs and the ground is covered with about a foot of snow. If there’s any time for comfort food, it’s now. And when it comes to comfort food, you can’t get much better than a Vegan Chicken Pot Pie topped with a flaky puff pastry crust.

This recipe comes from Amanda Logan’s Great Vegan Meals for the Carnivorous Family. The title just about sums up what the book is about, but I have to tell you, this is one of the best cookbooks I’ve laid my hands on in a while. Even though I am most definitely not a carnivore, these kinds of hearty, meatless remakes of traditional dishes really appeal to me. Maybe it’s the nostalgia! Maybe it’s because I’m from the Midwest and grew up on meat and potatoes and casseroles! But if you can relate, you’re going to love this cookbook too. And if you’re a vegan or vegetarian cook trying to please meat-eating family members, this cookbook will be much-loved in your household.

I appreciate that rather than faux chicken or some other frankenfood meat substitute, the “chicken” in this Vegan Chicken Pot Pie is king oyster mushrooms. This is true for all the recipes in the book–mushrooms and lentils make the “sausage” for the Easy-Peasy No-Sausage Rolls, jackfruit is swapped in for the chicken in soup, and hearts of palm replace the crab in the Crab-Free Crab Cakes.

Purchase Great Vegan Meals for the Carnivorous Family by Amanda Logan on Amazon

Tastes Like Chicken Pot Pie

Reprinted with permission from Great Vegan Meals for the Carnivorous Family by Amanda Logan, Page Street Publishing Co. 2018. Photo credit: Amanda Logan.

Course Main Dishes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

8 king oyster mushrooms
1 tbsp 15 ml tamari
2 tbsp 30 g vegan butter
1 white onion finely diced
2 medium carrots peeled and diced
2 celery ribs diced
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
3 tbsp 23 g all-purpose flour
2 cups 473 ml vegetable stock
3 sprigs thyme leaves removed and chopped
2 bay leaves
½ cup 118 ml dairy-free milk plus 2 tsp (10 ml) for brushing
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp sea salt
½ cup 75 g fresh or frozen peas
2 sheets vegan puff pastry thawed

Instructions

Wipe the king oyster mushrooms down with a clean cloth to remove any grit. Chop 1 inch (2½ cm) of the stalk to remove the tough base. Carefully but firmly drag the prongs of a fork down the length of mushroom to shred the “meat” (this is easier if you lay the mushroom down). Place in a bowl and gently stir in the tamari, then set aside.
Melt the vegan butter in a large pan over low to medium heat and add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook for around 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the flour and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the vegetable stock, thyme and bay leaves and stir in the milk, pepper and sea salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Stir in the shredded mushrooms and reduce the heat to low. Cook the pie filling for 10 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to a pie gravy consistency. Remove from the heat, stir in the peas and set aside while you prepare the puff pastry.
Preheat the oven to 420°F (215°C).
To prepare the pastry, place a ramekin or pie pot upside down on the thawed pastry and cut a circle a half-inch (1-cm) larger than the dish lip. Repeat with other ramekins. Fill each ramekin with pie filling before laying the pastry over the top. Gently press the edges of the pastry to the side of the ramekin and cut a small slit in the center of each pastry top. Brush a small amount of dairy-free milk on top (not the sides) of the pastry and place the pies in the oven for 15 minutes or until the pastry top is golden.