Tofu "chicken' and leek pie

Totally veegs, but you'd never guess

Maybe not the leek recipe

Some photos from conception to creation.. note the pie at the end might not be from the same recipe as on closer inspection it doesn't look to have leeks in it.

Let this be a lesson in vegan pie making, so long as it's vegan, go for your life and put a lid on it- it will still be a vegan pie!

Leeks

Onions

Garlic (4 cloves ish)

Puff pastry (check its vegan, some are made with butter)

Firm tofu

Raw unsalted cashews

Mushrooms as well if you like them

Nutritional yeast

Stock

White wine

Flour

Oat milk/ soy milk- unsweetened

Seasonings- all the usual suspects

Cover the cashew nuts in water and soak for an hour and then blend to make a creamy liquid. If you don’t have cashews or a blender don’t worry, you can do the same thing with soy/oat milk and flour later. It basically provides the creamy back bone to the dish and adds some thickness.

Tofu is just in there for texture, you can use fake meat pieces as well if you prefer. You need to pre bake it to make it slightly crispy by putting it in an oven around 200 for 20- 30 mins and put whatever flavour you want on there. I use oil, salt, pepper, paprika, sage is good. But go for your life and put whatever you want on it, making sure to use some liquid as well (soy sauce if you fancy) cause its very porous.

Then when that’s baking fry off the leeks for 10 mins in vegan butter, or oil or whatever. Add the garlic and onions and cook some more until soft.

Bosh in some white wine, season it with what you normally use (I always add paprika, salt and pepper, it can take a lot of black pepper so don’t be shy)

Cook some more until the smell of it all gets less boozey

Add some flour to the mix and cook it for about a minute, it will make it look all gloopy and stiff

Then add the cashew cream, or if you prefer to use soy or oat milk use that to loosen up the mixture again. Be careful not to use sweetened or flavoured milks or it will taste like a leeky dessert.

Depending on how thick it is add some stock or hot water to loosen it until you're happy with the consistency. Let it come together nicely until it looks like a pie filling. That’s the goal.

Add some nutritional yeast to cheese it up a bit.

Cook it gently until your happy with it and you like the flavour

Then get your pie dish out and if you want to have a base layer of pastry I think you have to blind bake it but we couldn’t be arsed so we just did a lid- saves on the cals too. Win win.

Put the Tofu in the bottom and cover it with the creamy leeky delciousness and then roll out your de frosted pastry and put the lid on. Put some slits in the top so the steam can come out and if you fancy brush it with oat milk so it goes a bit glossy

Bake it til its brown on top and hey presto- vegan pie!