That rumbling sound you just heard coming from the west- that was my stomach growling from reading this. That does sound delicious. I use leeks and carrots instead of onion, celery, and carrots in a lot of dishes, because Mr. Neville doesn’t like celery. Is it a traditional British thing to do that I somehow stumbled upon on my own, or is it just you and me that do that?
To be honest, I would never have thought of leeks had I not been living with Welsh people at the time, and it’s their national vegetable. More subtle taste and a better texture than onion, I find. Now my tummy’s rumbling too.
Contrary to WhyNot, I find that stock is stock. Vegetable stock will have a different flavor than meat stock, of course, but it’s not inferior. So long as it’s mostly water and a bit salty, it’ll work the same way in the recipe.
I find pre-made veggie stock to be a little watery and lacking flavor, probably because when I make it myself, I use a lot of vegetables and spices, so, pretty hearty. It would be a bit of extra work for the OP to do it from scratch though.
One way to up the flavor is to use miso paste instead of stock. Mix it with a cup of hot water, very tasty. I use miso in recipes that call for ham as well (like split pea soup), it’s comparably salty and flavorful.
For the pot pie, perhaps use shallots instead of onions for richer flavor, and rosemary or Herbes de Provence for nice seasoning.
[QUOTE=Mooch]
I was going to put puff pastry on top of a vegetarian pot pie (if there are tasty ones to be made).
You might want to make sure that the puff pastry you serve your veg friend doesn’t contain butter, lard or other animal fat.