Pasties

The ultimate comfort food for cold days.
Makes 6

Crust:
1 stick butter, cold and cubed
1 3/4 c flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
a few tbs water

Filling:
2-3 tbs butter or olive oil
2-3 medium potatoes, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 small-medium onion, diced
1/3 c lentils, optional
1/2 c strong veggie stock
+ one recipe Gravy (or use your own)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and with your hands, mix the butter in to make a fine crumb, like this:

add just enough water for the dough to come together completely. the dough shouldn't be wet.

set aside.

Heat a skillet to medium heat, add butter or oil. throw in all the vegetables and lentils. the lentils are optional because sometimes they don't cook all the way and can be a little crunchy. you might want to cook them partially through ahead of time, leave them out, or add 3/4 c of veggie stock and let the vegetables simmer longer. saute the vegetables for about 5 minutes then add the stock. cook until the vegetables are tender.

all cooked together

meanwhile, make the gravy (or if you have some on hand, warm it up!)

once the vegetables are done, mix them with the gravy. you can use any proportion of gravy to vegetables you want. i had there be a little left over gravy to put on top of the pasties. set filling aside.

roll out your pastie dough to be 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut out 6 inch circles (i used a cereal bowl, haha. if you have cutters that big awesome. otherwise just use the closest size circley thing you have)

add about a half a cup or so filling to the circles, enough so that they'll be full but not overflowing. fold into a semi-circle, and pinch the edges shut (or do some fancy crimping!)

I put mine on a cookie sheet lined with foil for easy clean up. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown, which will brown much faster than the tops.

all done!

Serve topped with gravy if youd like. They'll keep overnight. To reheat, place in the over at 350 for ten minutes.

Gravy

When i became a vegetarian, the fact that gravy was taken out of my diet was a little upsetting. all of that changed two thanksgivings ago when i decided i was going to make a vegetarian gravy. and not to be narcissistic but this is seriously the best gravy recipe i have tried. and i came up with it :) (perfect first entry, right?)

Makes 2 cups

1 tbs flour
1 tbs corn starch
1 tbs nutritional yeast

you can use any combination of these three, in any proportion. just make sure you have 3 tablespoons. the drawback to cornstarch is it causes the gravy to form a skin, which can be funky if youre making it ahead. if you dont have/like nutritional yeast, substitute an equal amount of the others. i find that using all three makes the best gravy though.

3 tbs butter
1 c veggie stock
1 c milk
(you can use just veggie stock if youd like but then leave out the soy, or use more milk for a creamier gravy)
2 tsp soy sauce (optional)
poultry seasoning and black pepper to taste

Mix the flour, cornstarch and nutritional yeast. Melt the butter in a medium skillet, then add the flour mixture. Stir until it makes a thin paste, like this:

If yours is a little too thick, add more butter.

Then add the veggie stock and milk, and whisk until smooth. Taste it before you add the soy, sometimes that can make it a little too salty. But it does add a deeper flavor.
Add the poultry seasoning and pepper.

yummy, creamy gravy. this picture doesn't do it justice.

Serve immediately. Can be used over fake meats, in pot pies, over biscuits... anything! :)