Mushroom & Stout Pot Pies with Sweet Potato Crusts

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Prep Time 45

Cook Time 50

Total Time 1 35

Servings

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for greasing, divided
2 medium shallots, fine dice
1 leek, white and pale green parts only, chopped
5 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 lbs mixed mushrooms, trimmed and sliced into 1 inch pieces (I used cremini, portobello + shiitake)
3 tablespoons spelt or wheat flour
1 cup stout or other dark, heavy beer
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Tamari
⅓ cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
¼ cup chopped parsley
1-2 small sweet potatoes, washed and thinly sliced
sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease 4 ramekins with oil and set on a baking sheet.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the shallots. Sauté for 2-3 minutes or until translucent. Add the leeks and all but a 1/2 tsp of the thyme to the pot and saute for another 2 minutes. Add the minced garlic and tomato paste to the pot. Saute until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chopped mushrooms to the pot all at once. Cook mushrooms until tender and glistening, about 8-10 minutes, stirring often and adding a bit of liquid or extra oil if necessary. Sprinkle the flour over top of the mushrooms. Stir and cook out the raw flavour of the flour for about a minute.
Pour the stout into the pot, scraping up any brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Add the balsamic vinegar and soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until liquid is reduced slightly. Remove from the heat. Stir in the olives and chopped parsley. Season the mixture to taste.
Divide the mushroom mixture among 4-6 ramekins. Layer the sweet potato slices on top, overlapping the circles as you go. There should be 2 solid layers of sweet potatoes on top of the mushrooms. Brush the top of the sweet potato slices with the remaining oil, season the slices with salt, pepper and remaining chopped thyme. Bake pot pies for 30-35 minutes, or until mushroom mixture is bubbling and the sweet potatoes are browned and lightly crispy on the edges. Serve hot.

I think it's important to use a stout that you would normally drink on its own for this. If you don't like it in the glass, the taste of it reduced down will not appeal to you either.
Feel free to use a mix of red wine and vegetable stock in place of the stout if you like (like 1/4 cup red wine + 3/4 cup vegetable stock). I would skip the balsamic vinegar or drastically reduce the amount to a tiny splash if you go the red wine route though. There should be enough acidity from the reduction of the wine.
You could also use regular potatoes instead of sweet potatoes.

Mushroom and stout pot pies are a hearty vegan main course with a fanned sweet potato "crust" on top. Perfect with a green salad!