Chef Angela demonstrating her pie magic
Angela Akins is a vegan chef caterer on demand for private parties and events in the Eugene, Oregon area. She is additionally the mother of a robust four year old daughter and a neuroscience student at the University of Oregon.
As the days get shorter and the calendar dives deeper into fall we have a realization hitting us hard; summer is over and taking its pretty watermelon salads with it. There’s no way around it, it’s time for more hearty foods which pack warmth and substance to get us through the chill.
I recently enjoyed the original recipe from my favorite vegan chef, Angela for “No Chicken Pot Pie.” It’s a devastating dish in that it’s so pretty I hated to cut it open; and it’s so inviting I started asking for it every night.
The good news is it’s all organic, vegan, and good for me.
I wrestled the recipe from Chef Angela for you and here it is!
Hearty No Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients:
1 package of “Gardein Scallopini” (Or your homemade no-chicken, not breaded!), cut into ¼ pieces
6 cups vegan no-chicken stock (Imagine makes a nice one)
1 cup of yellow onions diced
1 cup of peeled carrots
1 cup or broccoli cut into very small pieces with minimal amount of stem remaining.
¾ tsp thyme
¾ tsp sage
¾ tsp pepper
¾ tsp salt
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp tamari
2-4 tbsp Sunflower oil, canola is probably the more favored oil and would taste a little better in this recipe, I do however feel better and lighter when I use sunflower oil.
¾ Cup of flour; for this I use a white unbleached flour.
¾ Cup of your preferred non-dairy butter, I like to use the Earth Balance original.
Then a sheet of puff pastry rolled out flat.
(If you have a Whole Foods or similar store near by they will offer vegan puff pastry sheets in their frozen section; sometimes their bakery will even have some on hand. If you feel ambitious you can make your own, this is a very good recipe to use: http://www.veganbaking.net/pastries/718-puff-pastry#.UiDFPzndJUQ
This chef explains how to make the perfect puff pastry!
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Dice onion, peel and chop the carrot and broccoli.
Oil and warm a pan enough to sweat the onion.
When onion is starting to become translucent add carrots.
When tender, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and let sit.
Cook chicken strips with onions and carrots or cook separately.
Next, warm sauce pan and melt butter.
Slowly add flour and gently whisk.
This will make a thick sort of mixture called “Roux”.
Pour the roux into a bowl and let cool.
Bring no-chicken broth to a boil; while boiling add spices, excluding nutritional yeast, into your onion carrot no-chicken strip mixture.
Your almost Done!
Mix everything together, now you have some deciding to do.
Are you making one giant pot pie? Or smaller individual servings, this is my preference; it presents better and is easier to serve.
Pour your mixture into oven proof containers and cover with puff pastry (make sure puff pastry over hangs the sides for presentation), make slits in the top of the puff pastry and place in the oven.
Bake 30-35 minutes. Brown puff pastry on top.
Photo: Julie Akin
