'Chicken' & mushroom pie with cheesy mash
This is the ultimate veggie comfort food for me and is a really good one for families as the kids will barely know that the 'chicken’ isn’t really chicken! Ok so mine won’t allow a mushroom to pass their lips, but they do like the flavour, which I’m hoping will be a step towards eating them eventually! You could switch to carrots, sweet corn or whatever veggies go down better in your house though.
A lot of people tell me that they are either trying to reduce their meat intake or they suddenly have a veggie teenager, so they need more family-friendly vegetarian recipes. This is a great one to add to your menu if you want to start making changes to your household diet because it’s a take on a classic that’s a gentle introduction to anyone skeptical about vegetarian food. I have quite a few recipes on my site (linked below) that use meat substitutes like Quorn or soya as I’ve found that it’s a good way of getting the kids to eat veggie food without sending them into shock with Ottolenghi style salads (which would obviously be my choice of menu!). I’m hoping we’ll reach that goal by the time my daughter is 16… only 5 years to go!
Ingredients
1 large onion, finely chopped
20g unsalted butter
300g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, grated
300g Quorn pieces
2 tbsp plain flour
½ vegetable stock cube (I use Kallo low salt)
400-500ml boiling water
½ tbsp Dijon mustard
250ml crème fraîche (I used low fat, but full is fine too)
100g fresh spinach leaves
1 tsp sea salt
Topping
1.4 kg potatoes, chopped
50g unsalted butter
2-3 tbsp milk
100g cheddar cheese, grated
1 tsp sea salt
25g parmesan, finely grated
Method
Heat the butter and a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan. Fry the onion gently for 10 minutes to soften and then add the mushrooms for 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, cook for 1 minute and then put in the Quorn pieces and flour, stirring well.
Next crumble in the stock cube and pour in 400ml of boiling water. Stir in the mustard and then the crème fraîche. Gently warm the sauce for 5 minutes, but keep it on low as it will split if it gets too hot.
Finish by adding the salt and a little extra water if needed to loosen the sauce, it should easily fall off a spoon - like a thickened gravy.
Preheat the oven to 180ºc.
While the sauce is cooking, peel the potatoes and chop. Boil for about 12-15 minutes, so they’re soft enough to mash, drain and allow to air dry for a minute.
Mash well with the butter and milk, then add the cheddar and salt, mix well.
Spoon the Quorn filling into a large oven proof dish (I used 24x33cm) and stir or layer in the spinach leaves.
Top the pie with a layer of mash and sprinkle with parmesan.
Put in the oven for 20-25 minutes. If you can see that the sauce is bubbling underneath, but the top hasn’t browned then place under a hot grill for a few minutes to finish off. Keep a close eye on it though as it will easily burn.
Tip
Make the filling the day before to get ahead.
Gently top the pie with mash - flatten on the back of a large spoon with a fork and then nudge off onto the filling.
Meat eaters can swap the Quorn for chicken, just brown it separately first and then set to one side while you cook the vegetables. Add the chicken back in with the crème fraîche.
Or if you don’t like Quorn use a tin of chickpeas, using same method as in the main instructions.
More family favourites: Everyday chilli, Sausage spaghetti, Bolognese, ‘Chicken’ supreme, ‘Chicken’ pie, Creamy sausage, mushroom & spinach pasta, Tomato & mascapone sausage rigatoni