How to Make an Aussie Meat(less) Pie

If you're looking to introduce more meatless recipes into your rotation, look no further than this week's episode of Chefs at Home. Dan Churchill, chef and cofounder of Charley St, is making an Aussie Meat(less) Pie, swapping out meat for a filling packed with four different kinds of mushrooms, broccoli, onion, tofu, and more. It all gets encased in a buttery shortcrust dough that turns crisp and golden-brown when baked. The end result? A satisfying pie you'll want to cut into over and over again.

Read on for Churchill's step-by-step method and follow along with the video above.

Make the Crust…

For the pie's shortcrust, you only need four ingredients—all-purpose flour, butter (very cold, cut into half-inch cubes), kosher salt, and cold water. Grab your food processor and pulse together the flour, butter, and salt until the mixture has a breadcrumb-like texture (but will clump together when pressed, as Churchill demonstrates). Then, with the food processor running, gradually stream in the cold water and pulse until the dough comes together. At this point, you just need to knead the dough a few times on a work surface, split it in half and form each half into balls, and, finally, flatten each dough ball into a disk. Wrap them both in plastic wrap separately and refrigerate them for at least 20 minutes.

…and Prep Your Vegetables

Meanwhile, get started on the filling by chopping the onion and slicing or coarsely chopping your mushrooms. Churchill uses four different kinds in the video—king oyster, crimini, shimeji, and shiitake—but feel free to use what's available at your local supermarket. Chop up the broccoli too (stalk and all), and smash your garlic clove with the flat side of a chef's knife, mashing it. Sprinkle the mashed garlic with salt and use your knife to rub it in, creating a garlic paste.

For the firm tofu, you can either coarsely crumble it before cooking or do as Churchill does in the video and crumble it right into the pot.

Cook the Filling

Once everything is prepped, heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high and add in the onion and garlic paste, stirring often. Once they've become soft and have begun to turn golden (this will take three to four minutes), add in the mushrooms, broccoli, and tofu. 10 minutes later, the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, vegetable stock, and bay leaves go in—then, stir in the red wine and salt as well. The final ingredient to add is the flour, which will help thicken the filling, plus a little extra red wine if you'd like.

Allow the mixture to simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes until the mixture is almost dry and the sauce is thick. Let the filling cool completely before adding it to the pie crust.

Assemble the Pie

After pre-heating the oven to 400°F, roll out one dough disk on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round and transfer it to a nine-inch deep-dish pie plate. Add the cold filling in—then, roll out the second dough disk and place it on top of the filling. Cut off excess dough with kitchen scissors or a knife, leaving a one-inch overhang, and then tuck the edges of the dough under the edges of the pie dish. Be sure to crimp the dough edges to seal the filling in, too.

All that's left to do is cut a few slits on the top of the pie in order to allow steam to escape, and brush the top with egg wash.

Bake and Enjoy

Place the pie dish on a rimmed baking sheet and get the pie into the preheated oven. The finished pie should emerge golden-brown with a bubbling filling—once cool enough to eat, cut yourself a generous slice and tuck in.