I love Pinterest. Seriously, I love, love, love Pinterest. If I could, I would sit around all day and scroll through the millions of crafting ideas, recipes, makeup tips, and exercise regimens.
As much as I would like to do this (preferably in my pj’s with a cup of tea and something sweet), I usually just flip through the Food and Drinks category while watching TV with my family at night. I can see what people are eating (or want to eat) and it gives me inspiration to try different meals outside of my cooking comfort zone.
And nothing says out of my comfort zone like potpie. Gloopy texture, soggy puff pastry, and tasteless filling… not something that inspires me to dig in.
During one of my nightly scrolls, I stumbled upon the most beautiful picture of mushroom-thyme-lentil potpies from Fig & Honey. It was a combination of perfect lentil al dente texture, crisp puff pastry crust, and big Mediterranean flavors. And all I thought was, I want to make that one day. And Sunday was that day. My parents went out to dinner and left me to my own devices.
It all starts with onions and carrots cooked over medium heat until they begin to soften.
Next, I tossed in some cremini mushrooms and minced garlic. So far, so good!
When everything became softened and golden brown, I tossed in some cooked green/brown lentils.
The original recipe calls for puy/beluga lentils… which I didn’t find, despite looking at two different grocery stores. I liked how the green lentils turned out in this recipe but if you have puy/beluga lentils, use them!
To make the sauce, add in some vegetable stock, soy sauce, tomato paste, dried oregano, salt, and pepper.
And some nice dry red wine. For quality control, sample some of the wine (you don’t want to add bad wine to something you would feed your family and friends, right?).
To thicken up the sauce, I stirred in a little bit of cornstarch mixed with water – the perfect potpie filling!
Assembly is simple.
In a oven-safe casserole, pour in the filling.
Top the filling with puff pastry circle, cut a steam vent, brush the top with a beaten eggs and sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper.
Bake for 20 minutes.
And then it’s time to eat!
A perfectly delicious vegetarian take on a comfort food classic. It was a great way to begin Vegetarianism 3.0 Week 2!
Happy Tuesday, everyone.
Your Pinterest obsessed friend,
C
Mushroom-Lentil Potpie
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons of olive oil
3 small carrots, diced small
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 lb cremini mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
3 cloves of garlic, minced finely
1½ cups green/brown lentils, cooked via package instructions
2 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
1½ tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup dry red wine
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 puff pastry sheet, defrosted for 2-3 hours in the fridge
1 egg, beaten
Steps:
1. Preheat oven to the temperature on the puff pastry box.
2. In a large high-sided sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add in carrots and onions and cook until soft, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms and garlic to the carrot-onion mixture and cook until the mushrooms soften, shrink, and begin to turn brown, about 4-5 minutes.
4. When the mushrooms become soft, add in the lentils, stock, tomato paste, soy sauce, wine, oregano, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. While the mixture is heating up, combine cornstarch with a little bit of water to make a slurry. Add the slurry to the potpie filling and continue to heat the filling until it starts to thicken. Once thick, remove the filling from the heat. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt and pepper, if needed.
5. Remove the puff pastry from the fridge and unfold it. Carefully flatten the seams, ensuring that they stay together. Using your casserole dish as a guide, cut out a circle that will be used to top your potpie.
6. To assemble the pie: fill the casserole dish with the filling and top with the puff pastry circle. Cut a steam vent in the top to allow steam to escape during baking. Brush the top of the puff pastry with the beaten egg and sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the top is golden brown and puffed. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Recipe slightly adapted from Fig & Honey.
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