Vegetable Pot Pies

Hello all! I've got my chef's hat on today and decided to make myself some comfort food. I found this delicious recipe in one of the vegetarian cookbooks that had been gathering dust in my parents' kitchen cabinets, and decided to adapt it with a slightly healthier twist. By using less oil and fat, and adding more "whole" ingredients, I think I took this recipe from fantastic to phenomenal.

On an eerie note, the Creepy Twin Brain has struck again between my best friend, Nazlı, and I. (You can check out her fun food blog, Good Food for Good Soul, here!) We have this habit of thinking exactly alike without any prompting or warning. As I was typing this, she called to see what I was up to, and I told her about my successful kitchen foray. She laughs and goes, "I was looking at pot pie recipes last night and was calling to tell you we should make vegetarian ones together". No lie.

So that leaves me with the question, am I being controlled by gypsy Turkish mind tricks? And is it really a bad thing if I get delicious food out of the deal? Thoughts?

Ok, let's get out of the twilight zone and into the kitchen. Here's what you need and what you'll need to do to get yourself some yummy, gooey, and healthy veggie pot-pies!

(A traditional instruction list is situated at the bottom of this post, for all you quitters.)

Individual Vegetable Pot Pies
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Total cooking time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6

Ingredients

• 1 medium potato, peeled, cut into small cubes
• 1 large carrot, peeled, cut into small cubes
• 1 cup small broccoli florets
• 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, cut into small cubes
• 3 1/2 tbsp margarine (or your favorite non-dairy substitute)
• 2 tbsp whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups almond milk (or another non-dairy substitute) 
• 1 cup cheddar cheese (I used Galaxy Nutritional Foods' Rice Shreds... tastes exactly the same and only 70 calories for 1/3 cup!!!)
• 2 egg yolks
• Black pepper, to taste
• 2 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp sesame seeds (the original recipe called for poppy seeds, but I couldn't find them and swapped)

Now, seeing as I am only one person, and own only one rameken, I decided to make only one pot pie at a time. These are surely best eaten the same day that they are baked, and, though I could try, it's not likely I could devour all six in that time frame. Simple fix for an abundance of food? Tupperware, duh! Then you have something to dig into the rest of the week! 
 

"Before everything else, getting ready is the secret to success" ~ Henry Ford

Before you take the leap into cooking, make sure to prepare all of your ingredients. There are a lot of things happening simultaneously in this recipe, and it will work in your favor to have everything chopped, peeled, and measured from the get go!

After you've prepped your kitchen, preheat your oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit and defrost your pastry sheet. I bold this because, true to form, I skipped this part. I urge you not to.

Next, steam your potato, carrot, and broccoli until tender. Drain well and place in a large bowl. At the same time, heat your oil in a frying pan and cook the onion and red pepper over medium heat for about 2 minutes, until they're nice and soft. Transfer them to the bowl.

Tip: if there's too much oil left over in your pan, don't just blindly dump it into your veggie mix. Hold the pan level and use a fork to lift your onion and pepper bits up and out. This will save you from extra fat consumption and will let the awesome flavors of the vegetables take center stage.

Now you're ready for your cheese sauce.

Yes, it is supposed to look like this! Take a breath, chef.

Heat the margarine in a sauce pan and add the flour. Stir over low heat for 2 minutes, or until lightly golden. If you look at the photo above, you'll notice things look kind of weird. But, rest assured, all is going well and your sauce is going to be phenom. 

Add your milk gradually; stir until smooth. I used a whisk to better combine my ingredients (how kitchen savvy am I?). Continue stirring over medium heat for 3 minutes, or until the mixture boils and thickens. Boil for another minute, then remove from the heat and cool slightly. Add the cheese and egg yolks (here is a tutorial on how to separate the yolks, just in case you need it) to the sauce and stir to combine. Season your sauce to taste. I only used black pepper, but there's room for salt, cayenne pepper, or anything else your tastebuds crave. Just be sure to add with caution and taste test along the way!

Add the sauce to the vegetables and stir to combine. Fill your ramekin with the mixture, and refrigerate the left overs for later. Cut a circle from the pastry sheet to--

Uh oh, did you forget to defrost like I told you? We're cut from the same cloth, aren't we? Well, here's a quick fix: take them from the freezer as soon as you remember, and leave them on top of your preheated oven to speed the thawing process. If they're still not ready when you are, use that time to do some clean up. You'll be glad you did later.

So, cut that circle from your pastry sheet to fit the top of the ramekin and press the edges to seal. Really try to make a tight seal there because, mid-bake, the sauce can bubble over and create quite the mess. Mine did exactly that.

(Quick fix: Simply put the ramekin in a cake tin or other oven-safe baking dish to prevent the overflow from burning to your oven floor!)

Brush the pastry top with the lightly beaten egg and sprinkle your seeds on. Make sure you refrigerate the beaten egg for use on your leftovers! It should keep for up 2-3 days if you mix in a little bit of water and seal the container tightly.

Now, bake the pot pie for 25-30 minutes, or until beautifully golden brown. I suggest a solid 25 minutes for cooling, as well. I know the wait will be tough, but not having a singed mouth (aka- "pizza flap") is the gift that keeps on giving. Lift the pastry cover up with a fork to give it an extra nudge in the cooling direction.

Then, the best part! Dig in!

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 415∘F and defrost one puff-pastry sheet.
2. Steam the potato, carrot, and broccoli until just tender. Drain well and place in a large bowl. Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion and red pepper over medium heat for 2 minutes, until soft. Add to the bowl.
3. Heat the margarine in a sauce pan and add the flour. Stir over low heat for 2 minutes or until lightly golden. Add the milk gradually, stirring until smooth. Stir over medium heat for 3 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens. Boil for another minute, then remove from the heat and cool slightly. Add the cheese and egg yolks to the sauce and stir to combine. Season to taste.
4. Add the sauce to the vegetables and stir to combine. Fill ramekin with vegetable mixture, and refrigerate the rest for the future. Cut a circle from the pastry to fit the top of the ramekin and press the edges to seal. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Refrigerate the beaten egg for future use (will keep up to 6 days).
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.