Vegetable Pot Pie with Crispy Pan-fried Tofu
Recipe #216
This past weekend I created my first recipe. I was craving a pot pie with tofu and I couldn’t find a recipe that included everything I wanted: pie crust top, not biscuit or crumble, creamy filling, tofu, etc.
I made a savory pie crust, sauteed tofu and veggies, made a béchamel sauce, put everything together–and YUM! It took longer than going to the grocery and heating up a frozen one, but it was definitely worth it.
Vegetable Pot Pie with Crispy Panfried Tofu
Makes two large-sized individual serving pot pies.
Savory pie crust (adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian)
- 1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons (one stick) butter, cut into 16 cubes and chilled in freezer
- 3 tablespoons ice water
- 1 egg, beaten (optional)
1. Mix flour and salt together in medium bowl
2. Add butter and using hands pinch butter into flour/salt mixture until small pea-sized butter bits are formed.
3. Add ice water and mix with hands until a ball forms. Separate dough into two equal parts, press each into flat disc, and wrap in plastic wrap. Place each into refrigerator and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Filling
- 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
- 1 pound firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes
- 2 cups red potatoes, chopped
- 2 shallots, minced
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped
- 1 medium yellow squash, chopped
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
1. Add 2 tablespoons oil to a sauté pan and heat for a minute over medium-high heat. Add tofu, turning each cube when bottom is golden and crispy–about 3 minutes each side. When tofu is done, remove from pan, salt, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and boil for 10 minutes. Drain and add salt/pepper to taste. Set aside.
3. Add the remaining oil to the sauté pan and heat for one minute. Add shallots. Stir and when golden add carrots and celery. When carrots are soft add the zucchini, squash, and parboiled potatoes. When potatoes are crispy remove veggies to a medium bowl and season as necessary. Add tofu to bowl and mix.
4. Prepare Béchamel sauce and stir into veggie-tofu mix. Pour into pot pie containers (I used two oven-safe bowls).
Béchamel Sauce (adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
1. Melt butter over medium-low heat in small sauce pan. Add flour and whisk continuously for 3 minutes.
2. Slowly add milk a little at a time, still whisking until it is the consistancy you would like (I like it so it is pourable-the consistancy of warmed sryup).
3. Remove from heat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add to veggie-tofu mix.
Assemble Pot Pies
1. Allow filling to cool to room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 425° F. Remove pie dough from refrigerator and roll out each disc separately on lightly floured surface until large enough to fit pot pie bowl.
3. Brush each rolled out disc with the beaten egg and place rolled out dough over filled pot pie bowls with the brushed egg side touching the filling and crimp edges. Poke holes in crust using fork and brush with the egg wash.
4. Place pies into oven and bake for 12 minutes. Immediately turn down oven temperature to 350º F and bake until crust is golden brown–about 20 minutes more.
5. Remove from oven and allow pot pies to cool on rack for at least 30 minutes. Bowls will still be hot, so place on plates and serve.
Lately I’ve been buying our eggs at the local farmers’ market on Thursday nights. They are so pretty, but even better they are super yummy and fresh. I love the multi-colored shells and their yolks are the most brilliant yellow-orange and very firm. I haven’t been able to go the last couple of weeks.
I made the base the night before so it would be nice and chilly. I used half of it for an ice cream torte. I used the rest for my own version of vanilla caramel fudge (one of my favorite Ben and Jerry’s flavors). I used left over chocolate ganache from the torte for the fudge and made Salted Butter Caramel Sauce (page 174 The Perfect Scoop; recipe #217). I found pint-size ice cream containers at a local store. 
Pink Stripes 