Festive Vegan Vegetable Pie

Make this fantastic vegan vegetable pie as a stunning centrepiece for a meat-free Christmas or dinner party.

Like any good Christmas Dinner option, it can be carefully prepared a day ahead, so all you have to do on the big day is pop it into the oven. 

Like any good vegan option for Christmas, this is a perfect pairing for gravy, crispy potatoes, sprouts and all the festive trimmings. 

I was looking for something different to my usual nut roast or vegan roast for this Christmas, I came across this recipe from Anthea Cheng. Boy! This pie is not just for vegan but anyone who likes something different for the roast dinner! It's definitely an eye-catching centrepiece especially the vibrant red from red pepper. 

Ingredients:

For baking:

• 3 red peppers, seeded and quartered lengthways
• 3 medium potatoes, sliced thinly
• olive oil, as needed
• salt & pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp rosemary
• 700g shop bought shortcrust pastry
• flour for dusting

For sautéing: 

• 1 large brown onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 60g spinach
• 150g firm tofu
• 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 250g mushrooms, sliced thinly

To assemble:

• 2 tbsp olive oil or vegan butter, melted

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Place the red peppers on a lined baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sat and pepper.

Arrange the potato slices on another lined baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and rosemary.

Bake the peppers and potato in the oven for about 30 minutes or until they are both tender. Set aside.

on a floured surface, roll out 500g of the pastry to about 5mm thickness. Transfer the pastry to a 20cm springform pan. Press the pastry against the bottom and sides to form a crust. Cut off any overhang. Use a fork to prick the bottom.

Bake the pie crust in the oven for 10 minutes and set aside.

Meanwhile, sauté the onion and garlic with a little olive oil until soft and fragrant. Set aside half the mixture.

Add the greens to the saucepan with half of the onion and garlic mixture and cook until wilted. Set aside in a food processor.

Add the mushrooms and the remaining onion and garlic mixture to the saucepan. Cook until soft and fragrant. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Add the firm tofu, nutritional yeast and nutmeg to the spinach mixture. Pulse until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

To assemble the pie:

Press the spinach and tofu mixture into the bottom of the pie. Layer with the peppers, then potatoes then the mushroom mixture.

Roll out the remaining pastry on a floured surface in a circular shape. Transfer the pastry to cover the pie and cut off the overhang. Press the edges together. Use any excess pastry to make shapes for decoration.

Brush the top of the pie with melted butter or olive oil and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Leave the pie to cool in the tin for 20 minutes, then take it out to cool.