Vegan Pot Pie with Filo Crust

Step 1

Take the frozen filo out of the freezer at least an hour before beginning.

Step 2

Start by making the filling. Cut the veggies in small pieces and small florets. Make sure they are roughly the same size. Then cook the broccoli, carrots, leeks and mushrooms in a large skillet with a lug of olive oil and salt, over medium-high heat until softened for five to seven minutes. Add the thyme and green peas in the end and cook for one more minute until warm.

Step 3

Make the béchamel (directly over the veggies). Add the oil and the flour over the veggies, mix, let it cook for a minute or two, then add the nut milk and mix until it thickens into a béchamel, about 2-4 minutes. You can add more nut milk to thin it up to your preferred consistency. Once the veggies are set in their creamy béchamel, turn off the heat and add the almonds, the mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Reserve.

Step 4

Start by having a big piece of baking paper on a large enough working space (easier to move the filo with the paper later on). Add 3 slightly overlapping (lengthside) filo sheets for the base making a big rectangle, then spray with cooking spray or brush a light layer of olive oil and repeat the step with 3 other sheets over the previous ones. Keep going until you have used all the filo. In the end you should have a big rectangle of 4 layers.

Step 5

Add the filo in the center of a baking dish of your choice (I use a 30 cm (12 inch) circular ceramic baking pan about 5 cm (2 inch) high) with the help of the underneath baking paper. Once the filo is well centered and pushed down into the pan, add the filling. Cover it with the sides of the filo until the filling is well covered. Give a last spray of olive oil and salt on top of the pie before closing it up with the baking paper. This step prevents the top of the pie from burning. Add a metal fork or any oven proof element on top of the baking paper to prevent it from going up.

Step 6

Bake in the oven on the lower level, at 180°C (350F) for 30 minutes or until the filo is lightly golden. Let cool down for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!