Our take on a Vegan Steak and Ale Pie. Hearty, warming comfort food at its finest. Flaky pastry filled with meaty mushrooms and vegetables in a delicious thick gravy.
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Prep Time 20 minutesmins
Cook Time 50 minutesmins
Resting Time 1 hourhr
Course Main
Cuisine Irish
Servings 412cm pies
Ingredients
25gdried porcini mushrooms
3tablespoonsolive oil
500gportobello mushrooms
30gvegan butter
1medium carrotdiced
1stalk of celerydiced
1medium oniondiced
4clovesgarlicminced
1tablespoontomato pureePaste
1teaspoondijon mustard
1 ½tablespoonsflour
200mlvegan beef stock
300mlGuinness
3sprigs thyme
½teaspoonfreshly cracked black pepper
1teaspoonbrown sugar
1teaspoonsalt
1packet of vegan shortcrust pastry
1packet of vegan puff pastry
Plant-based milk for pastry wash
Instructions
Filling
Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in 150ml of boiling water. Cover and let sit until later.
Clean then cut the portobello mushrooms into large bite-sized pieces.
Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the portobello mushrooms and stir to coat them in the oil. Let the mushrooms cook, stirring occasionally until all the liquid has been released. This will take 10 to 15 minutes.
Optional step: to remove more liquid from the mushrooms and to give them a meatier texture they can be pressed using a flat-bottomed potato masher.
Once the mushrooms are cooked and all the liquid has cooked off remove the mushrooms from the pan and reserve for later.
Turn the heat down to medium then add the butter, once melted add the diced carrot, celery and onion along with the minced garlic. Gently sweat off the vegetables until they are soft, around 6 minutes.
Add the tomato puree (paste) and Dijon mustard, and stir to coat the vegetables. Cook for 1 minute.
Remove the porcini mushrooms from the soaking liquid and chop them into small pieces. Don’t discard the liquid.
Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan with the soaking liquid.
Sift the flour into the pan while stirring to incorporate it into the liquid. Cook off the flour for 1 minute then add the vegan beef stock, Guinness, thyme and black pepper to the pan along with the cooked portobello mushrooms. Stir thoroughly to mix in the flour.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes or until the mixture has thickened.
Taste for seasoning, adding salt and sugar as necessary. We added 1 teaspoon of sugar to balance the bitterness of the Guinness and had to add 1 teaspoon of salt.
Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature before adding to the fridge for at least 1 hour. The flavours will develop more if left in the fridge overnight.
Assembly and cooking
Preheat an oven to 180°C (350°F)
Roll out the shortcrust pastry to a thickness of 3mm then line the bottom and sides of each pie tin. Trim off any excess pastry around the edges of the tin. Dock the bottom of the pastry by piercing it with a fork several times.
Fill each pie tin with some of the mushroom filling. The filling should reach up to the same level as the rim of the pie tin.
Roll out the puff pastry to a thickness of 3mm then cut to fit the top of the pie tins. Place the puff pastry over the top and crimp around the edges with your fingers or using a fork. Make a small hole in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape.
Use a pastry brush to give the pastry a wash using plant-based milk.
Place the pies in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden and cooked through.
Serve your Mushroom and Guinness pie with a portion of mashed potatoes and your favourite vegetables.
Notes
When purchasing shop-bought pastry check the preparation guidelines on the packet. The pastry we use requires us to take it out of the fridge for 5 minutes before rolling it out.