Rosemary Olive Potpie Turnovers

I have a confession to make… I’m extremely food-suggestible. In other words, if you tell me about it or I see it, I usually want to eat it. That means I easily fall prey to mentions of food in books, magazines, and on late night television. Of course, I don’t always eat it, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting it. I’m an advertiser’s dream … although I always want the vegan version of whatever is shown, no exception to that.

Recently I was reading a book that mentioned pot pie, and I immediately had visions of golden crusts filled with steaming veggies in a savory gravy, with chunks of vegan protein and fresh herbs. Doesn’t it sound great? Just as quickly though, I remembered that I never actually liked pot pie 🙂 . My beautiful visions were suddenly replaced with the golden-crusted veggie-filled pie sitting uneaten in the refrigerator.

But what I do like are easy, ready-to-go meals that I can quickly heat and eat when I don’t have time or feel like spending time preparing food… but healthy and whole-food versions of fast food. Thus was born the vegan pot pie turnover – easy to make, freeze, and heat when something quick is needed. This is a great recipe that is completely customizable, and you can make large batches to freeze for when you want something fast.

Rosemary Olive Potpie Turnovers

• 1 cup whole wheat or spelt flour
• dash of salt
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance
• 1/4 cup ice water
• 1/4 of an onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 cup of vegan protein, cubed (Beyond Meat, Gardein, tofu, tempeh, etc – I used Beyond Meat here)
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved
• 1 tablespoon each fresh rosemary, marjoram and thyme (if using dried, use 1 teaspoon of each)
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 3/4 – 1 cup veggie broth

Make the crust first – in a medium bowl, mix the flour and salt. Cut in the chilled Earth Balance until it’s the consistency of large pebbles. Add the ice water and continue to blend together until the dough sticks together. Turn out onto a floured board (or the counter if you use that) and roll into a rectangle between 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick. Let rest while you’re making the filling.

In a medium saute pan, heat about 1/2 cup of the broth. Add the onion and saute for a few minutes, until it softens. Add the carrot, celery and salt & pepper to taste. Let cook for a few minutes, until all of the veggies have started to soften – they should still be al dente, not complete mush 🙂 .  Add more broth as needed during the cooking time. Stir in the protein cubes and let cook through, then add the olives and herbs and cook for a few more minutes.  Now you want a bit of extra liquid, so add a little more broth if needed and let it heat. Then add the nutritional yeast to make a cheesy gravy. It shouldn’t be too wet, or else the turnovers will be soggy, but you want a little moisture in them. Let the filling cool while preparing the dough squares.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the prepared dough into squares or rectangles, depending on what shape you created when you rolled it out. I got 4 good size squares from the dough; before I started I evened out the edges, and used those pieces to make a 5th smaller square. Spoon some of the filling onto each square, then fold and seal the edges. Make sure you make a few slashes in the top to let the steam out. You can also add bit of non-dairy milk to the top, along with a sprinkling of salt if you want. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, until golden brown.

These came out fantastic! There’s so much inside, yet the rosemary and olives really carry it ~ such wonderful flavors! If you make variations on this, I’d love to hear them!