Nico-licious: Mushroom Pot Pie!

Here we are in mid November, and the holiday season is beginning to descend upon us. For some reason, I feel more ready for it this year than I have in ages. During this time of year, it's always nice to have comfort food around one's home. And I mean comfort food in both senses of the word-food that is both a comfort to eat, and also to prepare. I think this fits the bill perfectly.

Pot pie is hardly a new idea, but sometimes it's fun to take the familiar and turn it on it's head. Normally, a pale gravy and chicken are used for pot pie. This velvety mushroom pot pie though has a rich, round flavor and and a dark gravy-it has very beefy sort of taste, which is a joy considering this is dish is vegetarian. If I may humbly say so, this would make a delicious vegetarian entree for any holiday celebration, though it is a perfectly lovely dinner for any evening.

I made this dish for Pablo and my sister Caroline, both of who lent their seal of approval to it (my sister is long time vegetarian.)

I'm sure that at some point I'll work out an easy crust/topping, but for now I'm just as happy to have a package of puff pastry in the freezer-just take one of the sheets of puff pastry out of the fridge a few hours before you plan to use it.

A note about mushrooms-I use baby bella mushrooms, which are delicious, and white button mushrooms, which are not. When they are paired together, though, the button mushrooms take on a lot more flavor than they would were they cooked by themselves.

This dish certainly isn't light by design, but is certainly lighter than many calorie-laden foods traditionally served this time of year.

Ingredients
1 sheet of puff pastry (let it thaw for 2 hours)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 leek, trimmed and chopped.
2 or 3 carrots, chopped into bite size portions (to taste)
20 ounces of mushrroms (10 ounces baby bella or your favorite, and 10 ounces white button)
Thyme
Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon of flour
1 tablespoon of butter
1 splash of sherry
1/2 box of mushroom broth (about 16 ounces-I used pacific)
1 cup of frozen peas
1 teaspoon of truffle oil (optional)
1 tablespoon of cream or whole milk (optional)

Method:
1. Remove the sheet of puff pastry from the freezer and let it thaw for 2 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Trim and chop the leek. Saute in the olive oil for 2 minutes.
3. While the leek is cooking, chop the carrots and add them to the leek. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms to the pan-the mushrooms will greedily drink the oil in the pan. To help them do this, salt the mushrooms. The mushrooms will saute and partially steam-this is perfectly fine-do not be alarmed. Cook the mushrooms for 5-6 minutes. Add thyme (I use 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme and few teaspoons of pepper.)
5. Clear a small spot in the pan-add the butter. Once it is bubbling, add the flour and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Then incorporate the flour mixture into the mushrooms and carrots. This won't make the pie taste at all like flour, it just makes the mixture a bit thicker and velvety.
6. Add the splash of sherry. Once it has cooked a bit, add the mushroom broth. Cook until the liquid reduces and thickens, about 8-10 minutes.
7. Add the cup of peas, and let them warm through.
8. Drizzle in the truffle and oil if you're using them.
9. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish.