Creamy mushroom pot pie
Creamy, fragrant mushrooms encased in crisp, buttery pastry makes this creamy mushroom pot pie the perfect vegetarian comfort food.
It’s Monday and once again, we’re entering this week with rainy, overcast and miserable weather. Not that I’m complaining though. It’s a known fact that I am much more of a cold weather person than a warm weather person (but please can we have some blue skies in two weeks when the twins will be celebrating their 6th birthday!!). Plus, when the weather is grey and gloomy I get to make comfort food. And we all know that I have a serious infatuation with comfort food.
Last week when we were faced with another grey day, I was craving pastry. Crisp, buttery, golden pastry filled with, well…whatever really. I didn’t care what was in the pastry, I really just wanted the pastry. I also didn’t really feel like eating meat and so decided to make a creamy mushroom filling flavored with fresh thyme, garlic and a squeeze of lemon would make for a perfect mushroom pot pie. Just imagine that for a second. Crisp, buttery pastry giving way to creamy, fragrant mushrooms. Are you drooling yet? Only me? What I love about this so much is that it delivers big time on flavor, it is 100% comforting plus it’s really quick to knock together. Plus it’s vegetarian. Creamy mushroom pot pie for everyone!
How to make creamy mushroom pot pie
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. In a large pan, saute chopped mushrooms until golden brown. Do this in batches if your pan isn’t big enough to avoid overcrowding the pan. This will result in the mushrooms steaming instead of frying. Once all the mushrooms are golden brown, add the garlic and thyme and cook for another 30 seconds. Pour in the vegetable stock and cream and allow to simmer and reduce until the sauce covers the back of a spoon easily. If you want a thicker sauce, mix 2 teaspoons cornstarch into the vegetable stock and allow to cook until the filling is smooth and creamy.
Transfer the pot pie filling to a pie dish or individual baking dishes. Roll thawed puff pastry out on a floured counter and cut into rounds big enough to fit your dishes. Top each pie with a piece of pastry then crimp the edges and make a few small cuts into the pastry to allow steam to escape. Place the pot pies in the oven and allow to bake until the pastry is golden brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
How long to bake pot pie
25-30 minutes. Because all the ingredients in the filling are already cooked, you just want to make sure that the pastry is golden brown and cooked and that the filling is warmed through.
Pot pie recipes
Ingredients
for the filling
- 750 g mixed mushrooms roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme leaves removed
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 200 ml vegetable stock
- 200 ml cream
- squeeze of fresh lemon juice
- salt & pepper to taste
for the pie
- 1 roll ready-made puff pastry thawed
- 1 egg yolk beaten
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°c.
- In a large frying pan, sauté the mushrooms in a splash of olive oil/butter until golden brown.
- Add the garlic and thyme and sauté for another minute before stirring in the flour.
- pour in the vegetable stock and cream and whisk until the sauce is smooth. Allow to simmer gently for 5-10 minutes then season with the lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Transfer the creamy mushrooms to individual oven-proof ramekins/bowls.
- Roll the pastry out on a floured surface and cut out circles big enough to fit the ramekins.
- Press the pastry onto the sides of the ramekins and crimp the sides. Cut a small slit into the pastry to allow steam to escape then brush with the egg yolk.
- Place in the oven and allow to bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and serve.
Will be making that tonight its cold in Johannesburg today, feels like winter again! thanks for the great recipe Alida.
We totally have cold (like 14 degrees) weather now so this mushroom pot pie looks fabulous! Crisp, buttery pastry giving way to creamy, fragrant mushrooms?! yes, please!
Cold weather just begs for pastry, don’t you think?
I love the way that thick mushroom filling looks. Great recipe!
Thanks! x