GF | VEGAN | SERVES 4
This hearty vegan pie is so tasty that I personally think it tastes even better than a non-vegan version would. Part of its rich flavor comes from the nutritional yeast that I added to give the pie a delicious cheesy-tasting sauce. Nutritional yeast is a great pantry staple for any vegan or just anyone who is keen to get more nutrition into their meals in general. Don’t let the name fool you, it doesn’t really taste anything like yeast it is just that it has been made from yeast, but cooked and turned into something very different.
Holistic cooking tip: Because of its cheesy, nutty flavor, nutritional yeast is used mostly by vegans as a cheese alternative which can be added to sauces, soups, vegetables, stews, and even sprinkled on top of pizzas. As well as being high in folate, nutritional yeast is extremely high in B vitamins with just 1 teaspoon containing beyond your daily intake for almost all of the B vitamins including vitamin B12 which can be quite a difficult one to get enough of from other sources.
Ingredients
Pastry:
1 1/3 cup gluten-free flour
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 pinch of salt
1 free-range egg
4 tablespoons water
Filling:
1 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons GF flour
2 heaped teaspoons of nutritional yeast
1/2 cup dairy-free cheese (grated)
Olive oil
1 parsnip, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 green capsicum, diced
1 cup diced pumpkin
1 onion, diced
Rosemary (optional)
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Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C or 356°F. In a bowl mix the flour, salt and then rub the coconut oil in with your fingers. If the coconut oil is very hard then you may need to melt it on the stovetop first but if it is just soft then you should be able to mix it in with your fingers just fine.
- Add the egg and water, 1 teaspoon at a time being careful not to make the dough too soft or sticky. If your dough is sticky then add a little more flour or if it feels a bit crumbly then a touch more water will help.
3. Roll your pastry out onto a lightly floured board. Use about 2/3 of the dough to cover the base and sides of a medium-sized round baking dish after first greasing it slightly with a little oil. Cover the pastry with a sheet of baking paper and fill with some rice or dry beans and bake in the oven for 14 minutes.
4. While your pastry is pre-cooking, in a pan heat a dash of olive oil and cook the onion for a few minutes until it turns translucent. Then add the carrots, parsnip, and pumpkin. Cook while stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes and then add the capsicum and cook for a further 10.
5. While you are finishing off your veggies, in another pot you can heat up the almond milk and add the flour while you’re heating the milk and give it a good whisk so there are no lumps. As the milk heats you turn the heat down to low and after about 5 or 10 minutes your sauce should start to thicken. At this point turn the heat off completely and then add your nutritional yeast, and stir in thoroughly.
6. Once your vegetables are fully cooked, add them to your sauce and pour this into the base of your pie crust after it has finished pre-cooking and you have removed the baking paper and rice first.
7. Cover your pie with the remaining pastry and cut a few slits in the top with a knife so that steam can escape while your pie cooks.
8. Bake your pie for about 45 minutes until it is golden brown on the top but not getting too brown on the sides yet.
Note: If you don’t happen to be a vegetarian, you can add a little chicken to it and just leave out the pumpkin which can be a great way to use up leftovers.
FOLLOW THE HANDS OF THYME 🌿
