Mushroom Pot Pies

One of Rob's favourite meals (pre-vegetarianism) was pot pies. However, since he's turned vegetarian he hasn't been able to eat them, since most contain meat. So I decided to make some veggie-friendly pot pies!

I cheated a bit on the crusts and bought Pilsbury's pre-made pie crusts. They come in little packages containing two flat circles of pie dough, so I bought two packages of pie crusts.

I bought a package of 6" tin pie plates from the baking aisle of our local grocery store and greased them lightly. Then I unrolled the pie crusts and cut them into circles to fit into the pie plates. I was able to cut out 14 circles from the two packages of dough that I bought. I lined 7 pie plates with the dough, and reserved the remaining 7 circles for the top crusts of the pie. We'll get back to those later. Now for the filling!

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp margarine
• 10-12 white mushrooms, sliced
• 10-12 cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 5 portabella mushroom caps, sliced
• 4 potatoes, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 medium white onion, diced
• 2 shallots, diced
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups of veggie broth
• 1 cup frozen peas
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large saucepan on medium heat.
2. Add mushrooms and stir until juices are released.
3. Add potatoes, reduce heat, and cover until potatoes are softened.
4. Pour mushroom/potato mixture into a bowl and set aside.
5. Increase heat to medium and add remaining butter to pot.
6. Add celery, onion, shallots, and thyme, cooking until the onions are soft.
7. Add in flour and stir constantly until blended, about 2-3 minutes.
8. Slowly add broth, whisking consistently as you pour so that you make a nice thick gravy. **The mixture should be thicker than soup so that it doesn't leak out of the pie shells, but still with some fluidity to it (Not so thick that it will taste pasty in your mouth). Add more flour or broth as needed to get the desired consistency, whisking as you do so.
9. Add in potato/mushroom mixture and peas.
10. Season with salt and pepper.

Now for the assembly!!

1. Ladle mushroom stew into tart shells - just enough to fill (but not overfill) the pies.
2. Top each pie with remaining dough circles, pinching around the edges. to seal the pie shut.
3. Cut 2 or 3 slits in the top of the pie, to let steam out while baking.
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45-50 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

If you want to freeze your extra pies, set the completed pies on a baking tray and put in the freezer. Once they're frozen, wrap in plastic wrap and stack in the freezer. To cook from frozen, preheat oven to 350-375 degrees and bake for 1 hour or until crust is golden brown.

You can also add whatever other veggies you'd like to the pie - carrots, corn... whatever! You could also try a different mixture of spices - maybe add some crushed rosemary or sage... or both!!

These pies are really rich and hearty and incredibly delicious! A nice substitute for meat pies!