Step 1

PREP THE INGREDIENTS: Soak the California walnuts in hot water for 20 minutes, preheat your oven to 400F, and chop the garlic, onion, carrots, and mushrooms.

Step 2

MAKE THE WALNUT MEAT: Once your California walnuts are soaked, drain the water, rinse them, and add them to your food processor. Add the rest of the walnut meat ingredients and pulse until the mixture achieves a fine-ground meat texture - stopping to scrape the sides as needed.

Step 3

MAKE THE FILLING: Melt the vegan butter on medium-high heat and saute the onions and carrots for about 3-4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and walnut meat and saute for another 2 minutes. Then, add the flour and stir to create a light roux. Add the stout beer, turn the heat to medium low, and cover for 5 minutes. Finally, uncover and allow the filling to cool and thicken a bit while you roll out the pastry.

Step 4

ROLL OUT THE PASTRY: Roll the defrosted puff pastry to ¼ inch thickness and cut it into 8 equal pieces if you’re using 4 ramekins or 2 pieces for a large 8x8 baking dish.

Step 5

ASSEMBLE AND BAKE: Line the bottom of each ramekin (or 1 8x8 baking dish) with a piece of the rolled out puff pastry. Then, top that with the walnut filling to just below the top of the dish. Top this with another piece of puff pastry and bake at 400℉ for 15-20 minutes until the pastry crust is golden brown and flaky.