Vegan Shepherds Pie

What can I say? This is a hearty meal for the continuing (but not forever!) wintertime.
It may seem complicated but it is totally worth the effort.

Filling

3 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth
1 cup frozen peas
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1" pieces, set the tops aside!
3 carrots, cubed
3 celery, large dice
1/2 package Daiya cheddar style cheese
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, diced
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 Tbs flour
1/2 C mushrooms, sliced

Potato topping 

5 medium Russet potatoes
1 clove garlic
2 Tbs margarine or coconut oil
1/2 cup almond milk
pinch of salt

Crust  (optional)

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup olive oil  (works best if chilled in freezer  for 1 hour)
3 Tbs cold water
2 sheets of wax paper
a rolling pin

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

FILLING: Coat the bottom of your large stock pot with oil. When the oil is heated up, add onion and garlic. Cook for about 10 min. or until onion is translucent. Add carrots, asparagus, and celery. Saute for about 5 minutes or more. Add the water and the flour and stir until the flour dissolve. Bring to a boil and then let simmer until the veggies are al dente. Periodically stir the pot. Add the mushrooms and peas and continue to let it simmer for about 10 more minutes or until the mushrooms are done. Stir in the Daiya cheese and leave on at a very low temp. 

For the TOPPING: make mashed potatoes, basically.  Cover cubed potatoes with water and let boil for 15 minutes. Drain the water and add the garlic, margarine, almond milk and salt and about a 1/4th of what is left of the Daiya cheese. Mash together.  

CRUST: While the potatoes are boiling, prepare the crust. Use a medium sized bowl and mix both flours and the salt. Then add the chilled olive oil. Roughly fork the mixture and do not over work it if you want a flaky crust! Add a tablespoon of the cold water at a time and mix it with a fork. Roll the dough into a ball, if it doesn't stick together then add more water. Lay the ball of dough on the waxed paper and knead it a couple of times.  Place the other sheet of waxed paper on top and roll the dough into a very thin crust. Make it large enough to cover the bottom and sides of your baking dish. I used a round Pyrex casserole dish. Remove the top piece of waxed paper and turn your bowl upside down and lift up the waxed paper and carefully guide the dough into the bowl. 

Once the crust is in place, fill it with the veggies. Not all of the filling will fit and so I ended up using another smaller casserole dish and poured the remainder into it sans crust. Spoon up some potatoes and flatten them between your palms. Carefully lay the potato topping onto both of the shepherds pies. Decorate the top with the asparagus heads. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

Servings: 6-8 (depending on how generous the portions are!)

This recipe was adapted from: http://thekindlife.com/blog/2013/03/vegan-shepard-pie/