Vegetarian Pot Pie

Adapted from:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aida-mollenkamp/vegetarian-pot-pie-recipe/index.html
Recipe courtesy Aida Mollenkamp, Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, minced (not in original recipe)
1 head fennel, finely chopped (about 2 cups. 2 heads/ about 3 cups were in original recipe)
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
2 1/2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
12 ounces mushrooms (I used Baby Bella), sliced (about 5 cups)
1 small russet potato (I used red potatos instead), peeled and diced small (about 2 1/2 cups)
¼ cup white wine (not in original recipe; I used Reisling)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth (mushroom was in original)
1 cup whole milk
1 cup frozen green peas
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh chives
1/4 cup parsley
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 large egg yolk (optional, for brushing on crust)
7 ounces store-bought puff pastry or pie dough (I used pie dough), defrosted if frozen

Directions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F and arrange a rack in the middle.

Melt butter over medium heat in a 3- to 4-quart Dutch oven or heavy bottomed saucepan. When it foams, add fennel, onions, and carrots, and cook until just soft and onions are translucent, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and potato, season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and stir to coat. Cook, stirring rarely, until mushrooms have let off water and are shrunken, about 6 minutes.

Sprinkle flour over vegetables, stir to coat, and cook until raw flavor is gone, about 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully add broth and milk, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.


Remove from heat, add peas, herbs, and vinegar, and stir to coat. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Turn filling into an 8 by 8-inch baking dish.

Whisk egg together with 2 teaspoons water and a pinch of salt until evenly mixed. Set aside.

Note, if you are going to freeze this dish, I found it much easier to freeze at this point overnight before putting the crust on. Then put crust on and put back in freezer. It didn't sink in or get messy that way. Then wrap with foil and then plastic wrap, and put in freezer.

With kitchen shears, cut dough to fit over the baking dish. (I didn't cut the dough, just tucked the extra dough in.) Place dough over filling and tuck into the edges of the dish. (Optional: brush dough with egg wash.) Cut slits in the top to vent. Place on a baking sheet and bake until crust is golden brown and mixture is bubbling, about 25 to 30 minutes. Let sit at least 5 minutes before serving.

NOTE: If heating from frozen, keep covered with foil & bake at 375 degrees F for 1 hour (remove foil after 30 minutes). Then increase temperature to 400 degrees and bake 15 more minutes to get the crust more brown.