Santa's Little Gobbler Christmas Pie

At Young Vegans pie shop, they believe you can put anything in a pie, so when the festive season rolled around, they didn’t hesitate to start working on a Christmas dish: Santa’s Little Gobbler, aka Christmas dinner in a pie. This jolly treat consists of their very own vegan turkey, buttered leeks, and chestnut-and-apple stuffing, all in a white-wine sauce. Here’s the recipe, with a few tweaks, for an easy and stress-free Yuletide feast. Please post pictures of any pies you make on social media and tag PETA UK and Young Vegans – we’d love to see how they turn out!

Prep Time 30m
Cook Time 1h 15m
Servings 4

Ingredients

200 g soya mince
50 g breadcrumbs
50 g plain flour
25 g fresh sage, chopped
2 small apples, chopped
2 onions, chopped
4 Tbsp vegan butter
Juice of 2 oranges, or more to taste
Juice of 1 lemon, or more to taste
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup roasted, peeled chestnuts
250 g leeks, trimmed and sliced
1 small shallot, sliced
1/4 cup white wine
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2/3 cup soya double cream
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, plus more to taste
500 g fresh or frozen cranberries
200 g soft brown sugar
5 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
3/4 cup port or red wine
500 g vegan shortcrust pastry
300 g vegan chicken or turkey
1 Tbsp oat milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C.
In a bowl, mix together the soya mince, breadcrumbs, flour, sage, apples, onions, 2 tablespoonfuls of the vegan butter, the juice of 1 orange, lemon juice, nutmeg, and chestnuts until well combined.
Melt 1 tablespoonful of the vegan butter in a pan over low heat and fry the leeks until soft. Season to taste and set aside.
In a separate pan, melt the remaining vegan butter and sauté the shallots until translucent. Remove from the heat and add the white wine. Return to the heat and cook for 15 minutes, or until the alcohol has evaporated. Add the mustard, thyme, soya double cream, sugar, salt, and pepper and cook until slightly thickened.
Place the remaining orange juice, cranberries, brown sugar, cloves, cinnamon stick, and port or red wine in a saucepan. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until thickened, stirring constantly. Taste and add a little more sugar if desired, then remove from the heat and let cool for 45 minutes.
Roll the pastry out to approximately 1 centimetre thick. Use two-thirds to line a pie dish, pushing it into the corners. Layer in the vegan meat, white-wine sauce, stuffing, leeks, and cranberry sauce and cover with the remaining pastry.
Cut away any overhanging pastry, leaving about a centimetre around the rim. Pinch the base and lid together all the way around.
Brush with the oat milk and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving.

Santa’s Little Gobbler Christmas Pie