I haven’t got round to much cooking or baking (or anything, for that matter) this week. I’m one of the many people this time of year fighting off a cold so it’s been mainly toast and hot toddies for me! But I didn’t want to miss out on making a pie for this week’s Great British Blogger’s Bake Off…
I chose something simple. A mushroom, chestnut and ale mixture topped with some shortcrust pastry. I’m sure puff pastry would have been great with it too but I didn’t fancy the effort of making it. The shortcrust was very quick and simple to make and I loved the flavour and texture of it too.
Originally, this was to be a steak and ale pie, but in the interest of being more frugal and unique, I chose something a bit different. The textures of the mushrooms and chestnuts mean you won’t miss the meat and the flavours are so comforting and autumnal.
The addition of ale is inspired by my friend Steve, who sent me some bottles of beer he made. I saved one to cook with because I knew the strong flavour would work well in a recipe, and it did. Cheers Steve!
Mushroom, Chestnut & Ale Pie {Vegan}
Ingredients
- For the pastry:
- 100 g plain flour
- 55 g unsalted butter, or margerine if vegan
- Pinch of salt
- Approx 2 tbsp cold water
- For the filling:
- 1 tbsp garlic olive oil, or olive oil and chopped garlic
- 200 g chesnut mushrooms, sliced
- 200 g chestnuts, cooked and peeled
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 200 ml ale
- 200 ml vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- Few sprigs of thyme and rosemary
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- To make the pastry by hand, mix the flour with the butter in a bowl, rubbing the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the salt and add water until a firm dough is formed. Or if you're lucky enough to own one, you can use a large food processor to mix the dough!
- Leave the dough, wrapped in cling film, in the fridge whilst you prepare the filling.
- Preheat the oven to 190c. and put a saucepan on medium heat on the hob with 1 tbsp garlic olive oil.
- Fry the onion for a few minutes until soft and translucent. Then add the mushrooms and chestnuts. Stir together and fry for 5 minutes. In the last minute, add the tbsp of flour and stir well until it dissolves.
- Add the ale, stock, seasoning and herbs. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and let cook for 20 minutes. Stirring occasionally and adding more ale/stock/water if it begins to dry out.
- Meanwhile, take the dough out of the fridge and roll to about 3mm thick. Cut pie lids the same size and shape as your pie dish.
- Create an 'x' shape in the middle of the lid. This will make a hole in the lid to let steam out during the cooking. Decorate however else you wish!
- Spoon the mixture into your pie dish(es) and top with the pie lids, using a fork to press the edges of the lids around the dish.
- Cook in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the tops turn golden brown.
- Serve with a glass of ale and enjoy!
Hi Aimee,
These pies look and sound delicious. I’m wondering if I could make them in advance and freeze them to cook later? Thank you in advance for your reply.
Carole
I don’t see why not! I would keep the pastry separate from the filling, until baking, so it doesn’t get soggy. And give it an extra 10 minutes or so cooking time. Hope you enjoy it!
Perfect, it became my annual Christmas vegan alternative for my husband’s Turkey.
Lovely! Happy you enjoyed it Nora
Mmm, this was so fantastic! I used some of the stew to put in the ramekins with the shortcrust on top. Some I kept cooking down until I could put it on individual puff pastry. I cooked the rest down a bit further and put it on a puff pastry sheet I had already spread with a cashew ricotta that was marbled with black garlic.
This was delicious in all three iterations. My little girl said this was her favorite food EVER. I’m excited because it was my first venture with savory chestnut and I was taken!
Thanks for the hearty dish. It was soul-comforting food.
Hi there! Can’t wait to try this. Would you say potatoes could work well instead of chestnuts? x
You would have to adjust the recipe quite a bit and it would taste quite different but if you want to do that – make sure the potatoes are par-boiled and cut into small chunks. If you don’t like chestnuts, you could just leave them out and add more mushrooms. Hope you enjoy!
Great recipe, Have just made four delicious pies with chestnuts picked today in local woods. With the hot dry summer it’s been a good year for them here in Wales. I used Sainsbury’s Kentish ale, which is vegan.
Which ale isn’t vegan? As far as I know, there’s nothing of animal origin in brewing process.
sometimes fish innards (isinglass) is used but many are vegan-friendly now.
Made this at the weekend and it was divine! I didn’t have any ale so I substituted extra water mixed with a tsp of marmite. Delicious! It felt really decadent and made enough for two dinners.
Happy you enjoyed it, Cate! Can’t wait to make it again soon, now the weather calls for pie :)
Just a quick question….. how is ale vegan ?
According to reinheitsgebot, only four ingredients go into beer (or ale): water, barley, hops and yeast (outside of Germany, most brewers would also either add sugar or CO2 to get it bubbly). That should qualify as vegan.
Sure, some may add animal derived ingredients (or process, which might be what you are thinking about) to it, but that doesn’t mean ale in general should be considered non-vegan. Especially if it’s a homebrew as suggested in the article preceding the recipe. So enjoy!
Hi! This dish looks and sounds delicious! A question though, since I’m Swedish and chestnuts aren’t a part of the traditional kitchen here – how long should the chestnuts cook? Or you use those chestnuts that are already peeled and in liquid in a jar?
Hi Anki, sorry for the later response… You can definitely use the ready peeled/cooked :-) Hope you enjoy!
WHAT? I could have this for dinner every day of the winter. In all seriousness, though, this makes me miss the UK and its hearty pub food so much! Can’t wait to make this when NYC gets a little chillier. Thanks, Aimee :)
Yes, Brits do have good pub grub :-) I hope you get to try it later in the year, enjoy!
That looks delicious, what a wonderful combination of flavours!
Thanks Jennifer!
Do those look good! I love that you’ve combined mushrooms, chestnuts and ale – a delicious mix of flavors and textures. Looks like real comfort food.
I hope you feel better soon,
Erin
Thank you Erin :-) I do feel quite a bit better now, must be the magical healing powers of pie…
Boo to feeling sick, but YAY to this amazing pie. The flavours sound amazing. Thank you for posting!
Pie makes it all better :-)
I love cooking with beer! And this pie is cute to boot. A definite must-make for fall, thanks for sharing!
Good luck in the bake off!
Thank you Ana :-) I love cooking with beer too, and then drinking beer with said cooked food…
Absolutely love this mouthwatering recipe! Perfect for fall. Thanks for sharing…
-Shannon
Glad you like it Shannon! Let me know if you try it out :-)
The mushroom, chestnut & ale mixture sounds like my comfort food, especially with the pastry! I love British pies with any kinds of fillings! I love the way you cut the pastry – looks like I would find from a nice bakery! Nice that the recipe can be made vegan with margarine – you’re awesome!
B-)
oh I love these – love chestnuts so I’m sure these would taste great. Also love your little dishes….lot of love going on here! ;-)
thanks for joining in.
Thanks Helen! The dishes were a charity shop find, I fell in love with them…
firstly pls may i have your address second should i bring a bottle or 3 because that pie looks so good i love your teasing peep po shot
Haha :-) Better yet, bring your French Tomato Tart!
Ahhhh………….. hot pies………. winter must be coming! I love cooking with chestnuts and mushrooms at this time of year. They are a perfect accompaniment to the cooler weather. This looks delicious and warming and is making me very hungry!
Thanks Kate! My favourite time of year, especially for food…
Your pies turned out beautiful, look at them! I bet they taste amazing too.. wishing I had one in front of me right now!
They were so easy to make! I will be making pies more often now that I know they’re lazy-friendly
These look great – very Christmassy and I adore the little pots!
These pots are going to be great for Christmas! And would you believe I got all 4 of them from a charity shop for £3?
This looks absolutey stunning! Homemade beer? Sign me up, I’m sure it tastes wonderful! And I love how frugal it sounds. It’s such a wonderful vegetarian option :–D
Thanks Consuelo! The beer was great, I’d love to make my own someday…
ooooooh i am loving the sound of this filling . i have never eaten chestnuts outside of Christmas day with my sprouts, but to eat them in a pie is such a good idea and frugal too as you say. I would love one of those pies now served with buttry mash, peas and gravy – yum!
well done for making it even while ill – i hope you feel better now/soon
thanks for linking up x x
Thank you Jenny :-) x It was my first time eating chestnuts outside Christmas too (I love them with sprouts and bacon!) Like mushrooms, they have quite a meaty texture so you don’t really miss the steak…