This is a totally gorgeous vegan pie – bring this to the table and everyone will sigh with delight. And as we use ready-made vegan pastry and burgers or meatballs, it is easy to put  together. The pastry is widely available but just check the ingredients label to make sure it is vegan. A bowl of green peas is the perfect accompaniment.

PREP 20

COOK 1 hr

SERVES 4–6

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

250g button mushrooms, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1 tbsp white spelt or plain flour

480g Linda McCartney meatballs (or burgers), roughly chopped, or others of your choice

1 tsp fresh thyme, leaves only

250ml vegetable stock

2 tsp wholegrain mustard

1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

320g vegan puff pastry sheet

Plant-based milk of your choice, to brush over

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Put the oil into a large non-stick frying pan and place over a medium high heat. Add the onion and mushrooms and sauté for 12–15 minutes until the mushroom juices have been released and have

evaporated, so the pan is mostly dry and the mushrooms are golden. Add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes until aromatic. Mix in the flour and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the vegetarian meatballs or burgers, thyme and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce is thickened. Stir in the mustard, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar and cook for another 3 minutes. Season to taste.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C/Gas 7. Turn a 23cm pie dish upside down and place it on top of the rolled-out sheet of puff pastry. Cut around the perimeter of the dish, leaving an extra centimetre of pastry overlapping. Turn the dish right side up and tip in the pie mixture. Dampen the rim of the dish with a little water, then carefully place the puff pastry lid on top and crimp the edges into place.

If you like, you can use the leftover pastry to create cut-outs for the top of the pie – leaves, letters or whatever you like. Brush the pastry gently with a little milk and make a hole in the centre of the pastry for the steam to escape while the pie is cooking.

Bake the pie in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6 and cook for another 15–20 minutes until the pastry is deeply golden and crisp.

Serve immediately.

The original food pioneer, Linda believed in great tasting, wholesome, meat-free food, and embraced kindness and compassion in everything she did. Her legacy lives on in LINDA MCCARTNEY’S FAMILY KITCHEN, a collection of 100 simple, fresh and inventive plant-based recipes that fit perfectly with how we want to eat now.

 

In LINDA MCCARTNEY’S FAMILY KITCHEN, Paul, Mary and Stella have re-imagined Linda’s classic recipes, bringing them up to date for the modern, plant-based cook. Because how we eat is changing….. and a plant-based diet can reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73 per cent.

Seven Dials publish LINDA MCCARTNEY’S FAMILY KITCHEN by Linda, Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney in hardback at £26.