Mushroom, Herb and Parsnip Pie Recipe

There is a new favourite recipe in town, and I cannot get over how good it is. Additionally, it’s a vegetarian recipe, and for a meatless recipe to hit the spot so completely is pretty unusual in our house. This is one of the babymoon, cook-ahead and freeze recipes we did, but obviously you don’t have to cook ahead! Hope you love it as much as we did. (You can find the original recipe here, but below you’ll find our simpler version with our own adaptations – for example we didn’t have shitake mushrooms on hand!)

Another thing – these are rough guides… if you have more parsnip or less potato, for example, it’s not going to be the end of the world. Work with what you have.

• 850 g parsnips , chunked
• 500 g potatoes , chunked
• 2 carrots , sliced
• 1 large leek , sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 75 g butter
• 1 onion , chopped
• 250 g closed cup mushrooms , halved
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 250 ml red wine (optional, but the alcohol will burn off anyway)
• 350 ml vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon tomato purée
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary , leaves removed and chopped
• 4 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. Boil the potatoes and parsnips until tender.
2. Steam the carrot and leeks over the potato pan
3. Meanwhile heat the oil and a third of the butter until foamy. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add mushrooms and garlic and fry over a high heat until softened.
5. Sprinkle flour on mushrooms and toss to coat.
6. Add wine to mushrooms, along with stock, puree, cinnamon and bay leaves and bring to boil.
7. Stir until sauce thickens and simmer for 15 minutes.
8. Drain the potatoes and parsnips
9. Melt the remaining butter and gently fry the rosemary – this releases the sweetest, most amazing fragrance.
10. Add the seasoned butter to the potatoes along with the milk and mash until smooth.
11. Add the carrots and leeks to the mushroom mix and season.
12. Place the mushroom mix in your freezer containers, then top with the mash. If you’re cooking immediately, grill it in the oven until it’s golden on top.
13. If you’re freezing, wait for it to cool and freeze.

When you’re ready to eat it:
1. Transfer to oven proof dish
2. Defrost
3. Heat grill to high, and grill until golden brown, and serve with salad or vegetables.