Layers of phyllo pastry are wrapped around a savory mix of lentils, mushrooms, walnuts and cranberries, and baked to golden, flaky perfection to make these scrumptious savory vegan hand pies.
Is there just something about hand-held food? All the goodness is bundled and squeezed into a little hand-held package. Pie is delicious. Hand pie is at least equally delicious (or maybe more, because there’s more crust!), and it fits into the palm of your hand.
I’ve covered the heck out of savory vegan pies before. (If you haven’t caught any of those recipes, find them here, here, and here.) So I decided it was time to switch things up a bit. It’s time for hand pies.
And this is kind of perfect, because Thanksgiving is next week. So I designed my pies with Thanksgiving in mind.
I’ll be honest: this time of year I have more recipe failures that any other. I think it’s all the planning. Whereas most of the year I wing it, day in, day out, and just kind of post whatever moves me on a particular day, once the holidays arrive I start to actually put a calendar together. After all, I’ve got a whole menu to cover.
I posted a lasagna recipe a few weeks ago that could totally work as a Thanksgiving main dish, but I wanted to post another so we could all have options. After failure after failure at developing a complicated vegan roast, I gave up and decided to go with something simpler, and that everyone would love (because let’s face it, if you’re feeding omni grandparents they’re not likely to get on board with a big hunk of baked seitan).
Everyone loves pie.
And so my savory vegan hand pie recipe was born. I actually adapted the flavors in here from my failed roast: the stuffing had walnuts, leeks, cranberries and the spices you’ll find in here. But it was a traditional bread stuffing, and bread inside a pie didn’t sound too appealing to me, so I switched it up for lentils and mushrooms. Super savory, super hearty, and perfect for pie.
Savory fillings, flaky phyllo, oh, and then you get to dip them in gravy. Perfect for Thanksgiving.
Savory Lentil Mushroom Vegan Hand Pies
Layers of phyllo pastry are wrapped around a savory mix of lentils, mushrooms, walnuts and cranberries, and baked to golden, flaky perfection to make these scrumptious savory vegan hand pies.
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 10 ounces cremini mushrooms, coarsely chopped
- 1 large leek, white and pale green parts only, cleaned and chopped
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage (or 1 1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage)
- 2 cups cooked brown lentils
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the Crust
- 1 pound frozen phyllo pastry (18 sheets, thawed)
- Olive oil
For Serving
Instructions
To make the filling, begin by coating the bottom of a large skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms in an even layer. Cook about 5 minutes, flip and then cook another 5 minutes, until browned. Remove the mushrooms from the skillet and transfer them to a plate.
Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Once the oil is hot, add the leeks, carrots, and celery. Sauté for about 10 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and sauté about 1 minute more, until very fragrant.
Add the wine, thyme, rosemary, and sage to the skillet. Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a simmer. Allow to cook until most of the wine has cooked off, about 5 minutes.
Return the mushrooms to the skillet and add the lentils, soy sauce, cranberries, walnuts, and vinegar to the skillet. Flip everything a few times to incorporate, and then remove the skillet from the heat. Taste test the mixture and season with salt (if needed) and pepper to taste. Adjust any other seasonings to your liking. Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375° and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a small bowl. Remove the phyllo from the package. Remove one sheet and arrange it on a work surface with one of the wider sides facing you. Cover the rest of the phyllo sheets with a damp dish towel to prevent them from drying out.
Brush the top of the phyllo sheet with olive oil. Place a heaping 1/4 cup of the filling in one of the corners closest to you, leaving about an inch between it and the sides. Fold the sheet in half, width-wise, so it covers the filling. Fold the sheet in half again, width wise. At this point you should have a 4-layer strip of pastry extending away from you with the filling located near the end towards you. Fold the section with the filling at an angle away from you, forming a triangle containing the filling. Fold the triangle away from you. Continue folding in this manner, so the pastry wraps the filling as you fold, gently pressing the pastry between folds to work out any big air pockets. At the end you should just have a triangular pocket containing the filling. Place it on the baking sheet.
Continue folding pies until you run out of filling and phyllo. Arrange them all on the baking sheet and brush the tops with olive oil. Cut a slit or two in each with a sharp knife.
Bake the pies until golden, 22-25 minutes.
Serve with Super Simple Vegan Gravy.
Recipe Notes
The filling can be made a day ahead.
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