Chickpea Pot Pie with Sweet Potato Crust

Pot pie is one of those things that's easy to love and hard to hate.  I mean, who can really have any bad feelings towards something that's such a great, warm comfort food, combining a stew-like interior with a deliciously crisp top?  No one, that's who.  Anyway as delicious and comforting as they are, traditional pot pies are not generally known for their health benefits.  Enter the Chickpea Pot Pie with Sweet Potato Crust: delicious and comforting as ever, but now veganized and healthy.  This pot pie was put together using inspiration from two different sources, this one for the crust and this one for the filling.  Some of the ingredients are changed to keep it vegan (helllooo, flax egg!) but the basics stayed mostly the same.

Some recipe notes:

• Make the crust first, then let it chill in the fridge while you make the filling.
• Due to my hatred of having to wash any more dishes than absolutely necessary, I made one giant pot pie in a casserole dish.  You can totally make single-serving pot pies in ramekins, just make sure to evenly split up the filling and crust.  Don't want any naked and crustless pies running around. (Editor's note: If your pie has legs on which to run around, it is probably not vegan.)
• The dough for the crust will be really soft, and thus difficult to roll out and lay on top of the pie.  My solution- roll the dough out on the plastic wrap that it's already been wrapped in.  Once it's the right size, ninja-flip it onto the casserole dish (and don't forget to peel the plastic wrap off).  If this results in dough flung onto your walls, floor, ceiling, and/or face, please find a set of extra hands to help you on the 2nd try.
• In the recipe I mention that you have to let the filling become thick and bubbly before baking it.  Don't skip this step- once the pot pie is assembled, the dough will be covering the top and the liquid won't evaporate any more, so you want to make sure it's thick before going in the oven.  Unless you like runny pot pies, but….ew.
• The pot pie mixture is very forgiving.  Add or subtract your favorite veggies to the ones I have listed to make this your own.

Sweet Potato Crust Ingredients:

• 1 Cup AP flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Cup mashed sweet potato (cool, or at least not hot)
• 1/3 Cup vegetable oil
• 1 flax egg (1 Tbs ground flax seed mixed with 3 Tbs water) (Or you can just use an egg if you're into that kinda thing)
• 1/2 tsp minced thyme
• Ground black pepper

Sweet Potato Crust Directions:

1. Make your flax egg first, and let it sit for a few minutes while you do the next few steps.  It needs to sit to morph into an egg-ish texture.
2. In a food processor, pulse the flour, baking powder and salt.  
3. Blend in the rest of the ingredients (including the flax egg) until a dough has formed.
4. Cover the dough in plastic wrap, and let it sit in the fridge until you're ready to use it.

Pot Pie Filling Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped white potatoes (or sweet potatoes if you prefer)
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup AP flour
• 2 cups veggie broth
• 2 cups of cooked chickpeas (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
• 1/2 cup peas (I used frozen)
• 1/2 cup corn
• salt
• pepper

Pot Pie Recipe:

1. Boil potatoes and carrots until al-dente tender, a.k.a. soft but not mushy.  Pre-heat oven to 375 f.
2. In a large pan over medium heat, sauté onions in the oil until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add in the crushed garlic and cook for another minute.  Mix the 1/4 cup of flour.
3. Slowly whisk the veggie broth in with the flour and onions.  Don't rush this part- you want to pour in small amounts of broth at a time and let the flour incorporate with the liquid before adding more.  Rush it and you'll end up with a lumpy goo that won't thicken, which, in my humble opinion, does not make the most attractive pot pie.
4. Keep whisking the mixture until it's thick and bubbly, which should take 2 or 3 minutes.
5. Add in the rest of the veggies- the (drained, of course) carrots and potatoes, chickpeas, corn, and peas.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Keep cooking for another 4 or 5 minutes until the entire mixture is heated through.
6. Pour the filling into a 2-quart casserole dish.  Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out on the plastic wrap so that it's the size of the casserole dish (don't be afraid to use flour-coated hands to manipulate the dough if it's too sticky to roll).  Use the plastic wrap to flip the dough onto the top of the dish (see above notes).
7. Place a baking pan under the casserole dish to catch any drips, then pop it in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the top is browned.  Let it cool for a few minutes before serving.