Mushroom, potato and watercress vegan pie

Ingredients

• 500g block shortcrust pastry (suitable for vegans - we used Jus-Rol)
• 250g flat mushrooms or Portobello mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 100g button mushrooms, quartered
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 leeks, washed and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tsps dried thyme
• 1 85g bag watercress
• 2 large potatoes, cut into chunks (skins can be left on or not as preferred)
• 4 tbsp rapeseed or other vegetable oil
• 2 vegetable stock cubes
• 1 heaped tsp yeast extract (eg Marmite)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsps vegan Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• 2 tbsp plain flour (or cornflour)
• 300ml of hot water

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the potatoes into a pan of cold, salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until just tender. Drain well and set aside. 2. Heat the rapeseed oil over a medium heat in a large frying pan or wok. Add in the onions and carrots along with a good pinch of salt and fry for five minutes. Then add the leeks and mushrooms and continue to cook for a further 6-8 minutes, or until all the veg is soft. While the veg cooks combine the vegetable stock, water, soy sauce, yeast extract and Worcestershire sauce (if using) in a jug. Whisk to ensure that the veg stock is dissolved. 3. Stir the plain flour, garlic and thyme into the vegetable mix and cook for a further 1-2 minutes, then stir in enough of the liquid so that a thick sauce is created. Bring to a simmer then stir in the watercress and remove from the heat. Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper as needed. Pour into a large pie dish.

4. Roll out the shortcrust pastry to roughly the thickness of a pound coin. Cover the pie dish completely with the pastry then trim carefully. Crimp the edges with a fork and make a few small cuts in the centre to allow steam to escape while cooking.

5. Place the pie into the centre of the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the pastry is cooked and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for five minutes before serving.

Our thanks to www.watercress.co.uk for providing this recipe

Visit our vegan recipe section for more meat-free cooking ideas