Meaty Mushroom Pie — a plant-based British recipe by BOSH!
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Meaty Mushroom Pie

This vegan meaty mushroom pie is the kind of thing we make when we want something seriously comforting without any fuss. A rich, herby filling of plant-based meat, mixed mushrooms, red wine, and fresh thyme all tucked under crispy golden filo pastry. It takes around 60 minutes and the result is proper, stick-to-your-ribs food. We serve it with tenderstem broccoli, peas, and lemony spinach on the side to keep things feeling fresh. Honestly, once you've made this one you'll be putting it on regular rotation.

Cook: 60 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 200°C
  • Large baking dish
  • Large frying pan
  • Saucepan
  • Colander

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 2 celery stick
  • 400g mixed mushrooms
  • 10 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 sprig of rosemary
  • 20g fresh parsley
  • 400g plant-based meat
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 50ml red wine
  • 250ml vegetable stock
  • 4 sheets of plant-based filo pastry
  • low-fat cooking oil spray
  • 200g tenderstem broccoli
  • 200g frozen peas
  • 200g spinach
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Method

1

First, prep the ingredients

  • Peel and dice the onion
  • Peel and dice the carrot
  • Trim and thinly slice the celery
  • Roughly chop the mushrooms
  • Pick and roughly chop the thyme and rosemary leaves
  • Pick and roughly chop the parsley leaves
  • Cut the vegan meat into bite-sized chunks
2

Now, brown the vegan meat

  • Warm half a tablespoon of the olive oil in the large frying pan over a medium heat
  • Add half the vegan meat and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes until the chunks are browning
  • Transfer the browned chunks to a plate
  • Repeat this process with another half tablespoon of the olive oil and the remaining vegan meat
3

Make the pie filling

  • Heat the remaining half tablespoon of olive oil in the frying pan over a medium heat
  • Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes
  • Add the carrot and celery and stir for 2 minutes
  • Add the mushrooms and stir for 3-4 minutes
  • Add the thyme, rosemary and bay leaf and stir for 1 minute until aromatic
  • Add the tomato puree and stir for a further minute
  • Add the browned vegan meat and stir for 1 minute
  • Add the wine and stir for 1 minute
  • Add the stock, increase the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated
  • Add the parsley leaves
  • Taste and season to perfection with salt and pepper
  • Tip into the baking dish, smooth it out with the back of a spoon and leave to cool for 5 minutes
4

Make the topping

  • Crumple the filo pastry sheets into loose balls and cover the dish
  • Spray with 4 sprays of cooking spray
  • Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until the pastry is crispy and beginning to darken
5

Finish and serve

  • Five minutes before the pie is set to come out of the oven, trim the broccoli
  • Put the broccoli and peas in a saucepan, cover with boiling water and allow to warm through for 3-4 minutes
  • Put the spinach in a colander, pour the broccoli and peas and all the hot water from the pan into the colander (this will wilt the spinach)
  • Halve the lemon
  • Squeeze a little lemon juice over the greens, and season with salt and pepper
  • Portion the pie onto 4 plates and serve immediately with the greens

Tips & Variations

  • Mix your mushrooms: Use a mix of chestnut, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms if you can. The variety gives the filling loads of texture and different depths of flavour.
  • Don't skip the fresh herbs: The thyme and rosemary cook down into the filling and make the whole thing smell incredible. Dried herbs just won't do the same job here.
  • Keep the filo covered: Filo dries out fast. Keep the unused sheets under a damp tea towel while you're working so they don't crack when you layer them up.

Why This Works

The red wine and tomato purée do serious heavy lifting here, giving the filling a deep, almost meaty savouriness that makes the mushrooms really sing. Filo pastry is the secret weapon for pies like this as it gets properly crispy in a way shortcrust never quite manages, and it's much less faff to work with. Layer it up, spray between sheets, and you're done.