Mini seitan shepard pies

Growing up overseas, we made frequent visits to Ireland. We're Irish by descent, so those trips were always very special. Although I was already a vegetarian when we started traveling, the idea of the Irish shepard's pie intrigued me. Mashed potatoes on top? Yes please! This recipe is a homage to my heritage.

I made both individual pies for dinner, and smaller muffin sized mini pies for each of us to take for lunch. The mini pies used a dough crust for portability, while I put the single servings in ramekins. This could also be used to make a single, large pie, just add a few minutes of baking time.

Ingredients:

5-6 medium white potatoes, cubed

0.5 c. Non dairy milk

2 T. Vegan cream cheese

1-2 t. Each salt, pepper, and dill

2 T. Nutritional yeast

1 onion, diced

1 c. Brown crimini mushrooms, sliced

2 c. Frozen mixed vegetables

1 package Upton's traditional seitan

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tube refrigerated vegan dough 

Start by making the mashed potato topping. Place cubed potatoes in water to cover in a large pot, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat and continue cooking 10-15 minutes, until all potatoes are tender. Drain the water, and return the potatoes to the pot, mash in milk, cream cheese, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and dill. Set aside on warmer.

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

In a skillet, sauté the onions until they start to clarify, then add the garlic, mushrooms, vegetables, and seitan. Stir together over medium heat for 5 minutes.

If making one large pie, or single serving pies in ramekins, layer in the seitan vegetable mixture, then top evenly with mashed potatoes.

If making mini pies, layer in a small bit of dough into the bottom of each muffin spot in your tin. You want just enough to cover the bottom and come a little way up the sides.

I had a little extra dough, so for three of my mini pies, I made little popovers, wherein the dough could fold over the top.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes (20-25 for a large pie).

All three of us really enjoyed these! They were cute, and very tasty, and fun to eat!

Makes one large pie, 8-9 single serving pies, or 18 mini pies. Single servin pies are approximately 170 calories each, while the mini pies with crust calculate to be about 150 calories each.

Wine pairing suggestion: Cabernet Sauvignon.