Seitan Pot Pies

For the Crust:
Pie dough from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman.

For the Filling:
1 large russet potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/3 bunch of red kale
2 tb butter
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 leek, white and light green parts sliced thinly
3 shallots, sliced thinly
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
leaves from one sprig of thyme
5 sage leaves, julienned
1/3 cup frozen peas
1, 8 oz package of seitan, chopped

For the Roux:
2 tb butter
2 tb flour
2 cups vegetable stock
2 tb heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Crust:
The pie crust I made was a very simple flour-butter-water dough. I've only recently starting making my own crusts, but I've found that it's very helpful to freeze a large, non-stick cookie sheet while the dough is resting. Then, I flour that sheet and roll the crust out on top of it. It keeps the dough cold while you're rolling it out and it almost entirely eliminates sticking. If the dough gets too warm, it's easy to put the whole thing back in the freezer to cool for a while. I rolled the dough out then used a cup to cut out circles that would fit the timbales I was using.

Filling:
Boil the potato until just tender. After removing tough stems, blanch the kale for a few minutes, then let it sit in some ice water while you work on the rest of the filling.

In a large, heavy-bottom pan, melt butter over medium heat, and saute carrot, leek, shallots, celery and garlic until the carrots are nearly cooked and the shallots are soft and slightly browned. Stir in the herbs. Remove the kale from its icy bath and squeeze out as much water as possible. Then chop the leaves into small pieces and, along with the peas and seitan, add to the filling. Stir to blend and let the mixture cook a little longer, until the vegetables are soft and the seitan is warm and flavorful.

Roux:
Melt butter over medium-low heat and whisk in the flour. Continue whisking for several minutes to cook the flour. It may clump up; that's ok. Add the vegetable stock and keep whisking. After a few minutes the sauce will thicken. Stir in cream, then pour over the filling.

Spoon filling into timbales (makes about 10, 3 inch individual pies) or into a large baking dish for a single pie. Let cool. Cover timbales with appropriately sized crust disks. Snip the middle of the crust to allow steam to escape and crimp the edges with the tines of a fork. Brush with egg wash. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until the crusts are golden brown.