Vegan Pot Pie (aka Shrek Pie!)

Why is it's nickname Shrek Pie?

• My lack of pie skills caused the top layer of the pie shell to have many mounds and dips that closely resembled Shrek's face.
• When you process green vegetables in your gravy using your Vita-Mix, guess what color the gravy turns?  

(Is there really something called Shrek Pie? I googled it to make sure there was not but the results were confusing...)

I made this pie because my husband and I went to Whole Foods to buy dinner for the evening.  He bought a chicken pot pie and I noticed they had a vegetable one, but it had butter in it.  I thought, I made a vegan version once, I'll do it again.  It took about an hour start to finish, kitchen cleaning included.

As I ate it, I kept saying to my husband, "This is so good.  This is so amazing.  Oh my goodness, how did this turn out so good?"  He assured me that the slower I ate it, the longer I could enjoy it.  I assured him that there was a whole pie that I could grub on when I was done with my first helping.

Isn't she pretty, with her tan complexion and green teeth?

Shrek Pie

Adapted from my first version

Ingredients:

2 thawed spelt pie crusts (hey, I know my limitations and pie crusts are one of them)

3 cups of cooked vegetables

vegetable broth, about 3 cups

gravy (recipe follows)

Lightly saute the vegetables in your style of choice.  I used:

1/2 medium red onion

3 cloves garlic

5 fingerling potatoes

2 celery stalks

1 cup cubed tofu

3 kale leaves (chopped fine)

1 collard leaf (chopped fine)

1/4 cup frozen peas (added at end)

1/4 cup frozen corn (added at end)

Add vegetable broth and cook until potatoes are just soft.  Strain out most of the liquid and make a gravy out of it. 

Gravy Filling 

(adapted from the New Farm Cookbook, a classic that I love)

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 cup brown rice flour or other flour of choice

2 teaspoons herbs de provence

1/2 teaspoon tarragon

1/2 teaspoon thyme

salt and black pepper to taste

Lightly toast your flour over medium heat.  When it is aromatic, add nutritional yeast and spices.  Stir once, lower heat to medium-low, and then whisk in reserved vegetable broth from veggies.  (Be careful when adding the water because it may bubble and sputter and flour will fly up out of your pan.  To avoid this, you can add 1/4 cup of oil or Earth Balance and mix it in until crumbly, then add the liquid).  Continue whisking until gravy thickens, just a couple of minutes.  If needed, put in blender to make smooth.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add gravy mixture to vegetables and fold in.  Use this mixture to fill one pie tin.  Use your pie skills to cover the pie with the other pie shell and slice the top a few times to let steam escape.  Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.