Set out a 8x11x2 inch baking dish and a baking sheet that’s large enough to hold the dish.
Heat a large, heavy bottomed pot (like a Dutch oven) over medium heat. Once it’s hot, pour in ½ tablespoon of the olive oil. Add half of the mushrooms to the pot and let them sit for a full 2 minutes. Stir them up and season with salt and pepper. Let them sit another 2 minutes. Once they start browning and glistening, and they’ve shrunken down in size slightly, transfer the sautéed mushrooms to a medium bowl.
Pour another ½ tablespoon of olive oil into the pot and repeat the sautéing process with the remaining mushrooms. As you get towards the end of cooking this batch, Pour in a couple tablespoons of the wine and quickly scrape up all the brown bits with your spoon. Transfer the second batch of mushrooms to the medium bowl.
Give the pot a little rinse and wipe it out before returning to the stove over medium heat.
Pour in the remaining olive oil and swirl it around. Add the shallots and carrots to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the shallots and carrots, stirring occasionally, for about 6-7 minutes, or until edges of carrots have softened slightly.
Add the garlic, thyme, paprika, and bay leaves to the pot and cook for another minute.
Add the tomato paste to the pot and cook for another minute.
Pour in a splash of the red wine and use your spoon to scrape up any brown bits. Then, add the sautéed mushrooms, remaining red wine and all but 2 tablespoons of the vegetable stock. Give the bourguignon a good stir and then bring it up to a hard boil for two minutes. Lower the heat to a simmer and let it cook, uncovered, until the liquid has reduced by a third, about 25 minutes. Turn off the heat.
Stir the arrowroot powder into the remaining vegetable stock. Add this slurry to the bourguignon and stir for about 30 seconds. Stir in the Tamari too. Check the bourguignon for seasoning and adjust if necessary. It should thicken up considerably! Remove the bay leaves and discard them. Transfer the bourguignon to the baking dish and gently spread it out to the edges in one even layer. Place the baking dish on top of the baking sheet. Let the bourguignon cool in the baking dish for at least 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Sprinkle a bit of flour on a clean working surface. Roll the puff pastry out until it’s an inch bigger than your baking dish on all sides. Loosely roll the pastry onto the rolling pin to transfer it over to your baking dish. Then, unroll it out over the bourguignon in the dish. Let the sides overhang--they'll puff and shrink up.
Using a sharp knife, cut three vents into the center of the puff pastry. Then, brush the pastry with the non dairy milk. Sprinkle the top with coarse salt and pepper if you like.
Bake the pot pie for 25 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbling. Let the pot pie sit for 5-8 minutes or so before digging in and serving. This allows the stew portion to thicken back up a bit. Enjoy warm with sides of your choice.
Recipe Notes
You can substitute 2 teaspoons of dried thyme for fresh.
I like to simmer the vegetable stock with some of the discarded mushroom stems beforehand--just to get that extra boost of mushroom-y flavour! I recommend simmering the stock in a small, covered saucepan for about 15 minutes. Then strain the stock and proceed with the recipe.
Use coconut aminos instead of Tamari to make the bourguignon soy-free.
It’s really important that the filling goes almost right up to the edge of the dish (like in my photos) so that the pastry doesn’t “dip” in the middle of the pot pie. This causes the pastry to not cook evenly/not at all in some spots.
Shallots always make my eyes water! I peeled mine and pulsed them in my mini food processor/chopper to make the job go faster. Highly recommend this if you have one.
If the portobello mushrooms at your store are huge (like the size of your hand), you'll only need 4.
This vegan mushroom bourguignon pot pie is such a flavourful and cozy Winter meal. A rich red wine mushroom stew with garlic and thyme is topped with golden puff pastry. Deeply flavourful and so impressive looking!