This vegan green lentil and veggie pie with a vegetable suet top crust is inspired by the traditional Scottish Teviotdale pie that originates from the Scottish Borders. Green lentils and veggies are cooked within a rich savoury sauce before being topped with an easy suet crust pastry that cooks into a tasty doughball or cobbler texture.Serve with your favourite veggies and lots of tasty gravy.
1tablespoonbrown sauce[such as HP sauce or similar, can replace with tomato ketchup]
400mililitresvegetable stock[use a vegan mushroom or 'beef' flavour if available]
Instructions
Prepare the lentils: [or use three 400 gram/ 15oz cans of green lentils, drained, you may have some lentils left over. If canned lentils are used then omit the next stage and go straight to the prepare pie filling]
Add 250 grams of uncooked green lentils to a saucepan. Pop in one or two bay leafs [optional] and 4 cups/1 litre of cold water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are soft.Drain the lentils but keep any cooking liquid as this can be added to the stock to make up the required amount for the recipe.
Prepare the pie filling:
Heat the olive oil in a fry pan or skillet over a medium heat. Alternatively replace with ½ cup of vegetable stock/broth.
1 tablespoon olive oil
Add the onion, garlic, celery and carrot and cook for 8 minutes, stirring frequently.
Pour in 375 millilitres [1 ½ cups] water and place a lid over the pan. Leave to cook for 10 minutes or until the veggies are soft, especially the carrot and celery. Add extra small amounts of water if required to prevent sticking.
Next add the tomato puree, brown sauce, soya sauce and lentils.
670 grams cooked green lentils, 1 tablespoon soya sauce, 1 tablespoon tomato puree, 1 tablespoon brown sauce
Pour in the veggie stock. Add a few pinches of salt and some black pepper.Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.[Remove from the heat when done and set aside to cool while the suet crust batter is prepared.]
400 mililitres vegetable stock
Prepare the suet crust:
Preheat the oven to 160 Fan / 180C / 350 Fahrenheit / Gas 4.
Sift the self-raising flour, baking powder and cornflour into a mixing bowl. Tip in the vegetable suet and add a few pinches of salt. Stir through the dried thyme or the fresh thyme leaves.Stir to combine.
Pour in the plant milk and stir with a mixing spoon to form a thick batter.
300 mililitres oat milk
Grease the top rim and about an inch below the rim of the casserole dish with some vegan margarine.
Scoop the pie filling into the casserole dish.
Pour the batter evenly over the filling to cover, using a small spatula to evenly distribute the batter over the filling.
Bake in the centre of the oven for around 30-35 minutes or until the crust is golden, risen and firm. Cracks will likely form over the crust as the pastry batter dries out in the oven, but the suet crust below will be light and fluffy.
A sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley if available is a nice garnish.
Serve with your favourite veggies and lots of tasty vegetable gravy. If using gravy granules I like to reserve any vegetable cooking water, reheat it to boiling point and then make up the gravy with the vegetable water.
Notes
Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not intended as a strict calculation as ingredients can vary.
Vegan Teviotdale pie can be stored within the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Or freeze portions for up to 3-4 months.
Reheat within a hot oven until piping hot, do add a kitchen foil cover to prevent the pie from overcooking and browning too much.
Slices of pie can be reheated within a microwave but do bear in mind that the suet crust texture can change in a microwave.
Can't find vegan suet? Atora vegetable suet is vegan and can be sourced in most UK supermarkets, or Suma vegan and gluten-free suet can be found in many UK health stores.
Alternatively freeze a block of vegetable shortening or vegan butter and use a cheese grater to shred or grate the fat into small pieces.
In the UK cornflour is the same product as cornstarch, which is what it is termed in many different countries including the US.
The best cornflour replacements include arrowroot powder, ground rice, tapioca flour, and potato starch.
A rectangular Pyrex casserole dish was used for this Teviotdale pie, but a circular or oval casserole dish can be used instead.
Using a smaller baking dish will result in a thicker crust, so do bear this in mind during baking as a few more extra minutes may be required.