Cheesy Vegetarian Pie With Puff Pastry

This pie is a super easy, vegetarian, comfort food recipe. Perfect as a midweek dinner, a change from your usual Sunday roast or even as a show-stopping vegetarian main course for a party. It’s one of those dishes that just feels good when you eat it. You know the ones that are nourishing and filling and warm the cockles? Give it a go and see just how simple pie-making can be.

Why you’ll love this Vegetarian Pie recipe

⭐️ An easy vegetarian dish for the whole family ⭐️ Packed with flavour ⭐️ A vegetarian show-stopper Tinned lentils add protein (you could use a different type of cooked, canned beans if you prefer). ‘Homity Pie’, a traditional British vegetarian pie (with a pastry base, not a lid), is said to have been created by the Land Girls out of rations during WWII. At the time, a vegetarian pie was considered a lowly cousin to the meat pie. I hope this one changes your mind!

Notes on Vegetarian Pie ingredients

Olive oil – Not extra virgin Leeks – Fresh or frozen is fine Mushrooms – I used chestnut but for extra flavour you could use a pack of wild mushrooms or use a mix of different varieties Sweetcorn – Tinned kind, drained (or you could use frozen, defrosted) Brown or green lentils – Tinned kind Milk – Any kind. Choose plant-based if you prefer Plain flour – You can use gluten-free flour instead Grated cheddar cheese – This needs to be mature for flavour. Alternatively use vegan cheese Ready-rolled puff pastry – Use a gluten-free pastry if preferred Egg – Use milk if you prefer

In the freezer This is OK to freeze UNBAKED. Then defrost and bake it when you’re ready to eat it. You can freeze the already cooked leftovers at a push, but once the pastry is baked and defrosted it can be a bit soggy. Your cooking time here will depend on the type of mushrooms you use, and how much liquid they give out. I used chestnut mushrooms, which don’t give off a lot of liquid so the 5 minutes is sufficient. If there’s a lot of water as you cook your mushrooms and leeks, you may need to cook for an extra 5-10 minutes until it evaporates. You could serve slices of this pie with some steamed greens and new potatoes. Or how about Oven Chips or Parmentier Potatoes? I cut pastry stars out for the topping from my cutter set (here are the cutters I use). I then used the beaten egg to stick them back on. I like to cut one out of the middle too so you can see the filling peeking through! A vegetable pie is a great way to use up any cheese you have leftover that’s not getting eaten. You can use something with strong flavours like blue cheese too. Just substitute the cheese in the recipe for the same weight.