Christmas Vegan Pie Recipe

Place a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the olive oil. Next, add the prepared onions and leeks and fry for 5 minutes until starting to soften. Put about two-thirds of the mushrooms into the pan, along with the garlic, cranberries, chestnuts, walnuts, beans, mustard and thyme leaves, and cook, stirring, for a further 10 minutes, until most of the liquid from the mushrooms has gone and the mixture is quite dry. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then stir in the rest of the mushrooms and take the pan off the heat.

Switch on the oven at 180⁰C (Gas Mark 4) and lightly grease a 20cm loose-bottomed deep pie dish. To make the pastry, weigh out the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir in the salt. Put the 150ml water into a saucepan and bring it up to the boil, then add the vegetable suet and whisk until well combined. Carefully pour the water and suet mixture into the flour bowl and stir gently until it starts to come together. Use your hands to form the flour into a ball, then lift onto a clean work surface and knead it for five minutes to make a smooth pastry dough. Next, take three-quarters of the pastry and roll it out thinly enough to line the bottom and sides of your dish (you won’t need to dust the work surface with flour). Lift the pastry carefully into the dish, making sure it is gently pushed into the bottom edges, and spread the cranberry sauce evenly over the base. Tip in the pie filling mixture, and fold any excess pastry over towards the middle of the pie. Trim the folded-over excess pastry to give a lip of roughly 3cm (keep the trimmings). Take the remaining pastry and roll it out into a circle large enough to form a lid for the pie. Lift it on to the top of the pie, then trim away any overhang. Working around the edge of the pie, pinch the lid and side together to form a seal, then brush the top of the pie with the oat milk. Use the pastry trimmings to cut out Christmas shapes, such as stars, then press them gently on to the top of the pie and brush them lightly with the milk. Put the pie in the oven to cook for an hour, or until the pastry is golden, then remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. To serve, take the pie carefully out of its dish and place on a serving platter.