Vegetable Pot Pie

One of the joys and liberties of living alone is that you can eat soup for dinner five nights in a row without worrying about boring a dining companion. Nor do you have to be shamed in the presence of others when you pull out leftover rice, roll it up in a tortilla, and call it dinner. The downside of all this lackadaisical culinary freedom, is that because no one is there to impress, nor there to judge you, you (or at least I) tend to not put more than ten minutes of effort into a meal, and we all know that the meals that take more than ten minutes to prepare are usually tastier.
I absolutely relish my loner kitchen liberties, but I do miss having a reason to cook for another person, so am looking forward to my near future when I will have another person for whom to cook. One of the dishes I used to make all of the time when I had a house guest — a dish my non-indulgent, lazy cook self misses so very much — is pot pie. After a seven year hiatus from pot pie (admittedly insane!), I recently tried it out on the boy, and I think he's gonna want me to make it again. I always make my vegetable pot pie with the usual suspects of veggie fillers — peas, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, and maybe celery — and for the protein either tofu or seitan. For the gravy it's always nutritional yeast gravy, which, if you haven't had (I think every vegetarian and vegan has had this), is absolutely awesome. I could wrap nutritional yeast gravy in a tortilla and call it dinner, and I'm sure I have! And, I have no shame in picking up a pie shell made with vegetable shortening from the store (which would also make this recipe vegan), if I don't feel like rolling out one — or two, 'cause I like a bottom and a top crust. Vegetable Pot Pie

Double pie crust
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 sticks butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
7 to 10 tablespoons ice water

• Pulse flour and salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse a few times, until coarse crumbs form.
• Add water and pulse until dough holds together and is not wet or sticky.
• Divide dough into two portions, shaping each portion into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Filling
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
5 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 cups potatoes, 1/2-inch cubed
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, 1/2-inch cubed
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh sage, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup dry white wine (can be omitted)
2 1/2 cups miso broth (can use vegetable broth)
16 ounces seitan or firm tofu, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups frozen green peas

• Mix together flour and nutritional yeast. Stir in melted butter and mix. Set aside.
• Boil cubed potatoes in a small pot of water, until just tender and can be pierced easily with a fork, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
  
• In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat olive oil and add mushrooms, onion, and carrots, and saute until vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes. Add thyme, sage, and garlic, and saute for 3 more minutes. Add white wine and boil until almost evaporated
  
• Add miso broth, and bring to a simmer. Add nutritional yeast mixture, whisking until incorporated. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
• Add seitan or tofu along with green peas and potatoes and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Assembly

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Roll out pie crusts on a lightly floured surface to fit an 8 or 9-inch pie pan.
• Gently lay one pie crust in a pie pan. Fill pie shell with pot pie filling. Top with second pie crust. Trim overhanging pie crust, leaving one inch of overhang. Flute edges and cut four slits in the top crust for steam to escape.
• Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.