Veggie Pot Pie

Lent is nearly over and I still haven’t shared that delicious meatless pot pie that I promised a month ago!

Let’s change that, shall we?

I made this amazing Veggie Pot Pie on Ash Wednesday.  After fasting for most of the day, I wanted to make a hearty vegetarian dish for dinner.

I ended up taking my basic chicken pot pie recipe, removing the chicken (obviously)and replacing it with mushrooms and potatoes.

I’m never quite sure how the kids are going to react to vegetarian foods and this one had a few marks against it.  First, it has mushrooms (Spud gags on mushrooms) and second, it has cheese (Dude hates cheese).

Imagine my surprises (and relief) when they both loved it!  The cheese was minimal enough that Dude wasn’t bothered by it and Spud just picked around the mushrooms.

They both even devoured the leftovers the next day!   Hubs and I were huge fans as well and this is sure to be an annual Lenten recipe!

Veggie Pot Pie

2 tablespoons butter, divided

1 medium onion, diced

8 oz baby portobella mushrooms, sliced

2 large carrots, sliced

2 stalks celery, diced

Salt & pepper

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp dried parsley

1 large bay leaf

1 quart (4 cups) chicken or vegetable broth

3 medium potatoes, diced

1 cup fresh spinach

½ cup peas

½ cup heavy cream

2 cups all purpose flour

2 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

5 tbsp cold butter, cut in small cubes

1 teaspoon sugar

½ tsp garlic powder

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Heat the butter in a soup pot over medium heat.  Add the onions, mushrooms, carrots, and celery.  Cook until the vegetables have softened.  Stir in the parsley and thyme and season with salt and pepper.  Cook for another minute.

Add the bay leaf, chicken broth and potatoes.  Cook for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in spinach and peas and cook until spinach is wilted.  Stir in heavy cream.

While the potatoes cook, make the biscuit topping.

Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, garlic powder, and salt.  Cut the butter into the flour.

Stir in the buttermilk, then knead in the cheese.

Pour the pot pie filling into 2 pie plates.  Divide the biscuit dough in half.  Form each half into a circle and place on top of the pot pie.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until the topping is cooked through and browned and sauce is bubbly.