I had a hard time naming this recipe.  It’s like a shepherd’s pie, so I’m calling it “pie.”  Plus – I love pie.  I’m not sure if its pie-ness is the highlight though.  That’s the problem – what is the highlight?  It’s got tempeh, pumpkin, and beer.  That’s three highlights!

I absolutely loved this recipe.  Then again, I love tempeh, pumpkin, and beer.  Shocker.  Kevin, on the other hand, was not a fan.  This recipe is not hubby approved.

I could tell you to throw in a little soy sauce and vegan Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, red pepper flakes, or whatever else (frankly, I would have added mushrooms, but he’s not a fan of those either), but I think the only thing that would have really made this meal for him is beef.  Hmmm, well that doesn’t work for my veg pledge, does it?

So I’m sharing this anyway because I liked it and that’s what matters on my blog.  Oh, and I guess I can call it whatever I want too. *Perhaps someone went as a diva for Halloween…

Pumpkin Tempeh Pie

Ingredients

• 2 small(ish) russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 3/4 to 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 package tempeh (LightLife’s soy tempeh worked well.)
• 1 cup frozen green beans, such as Italian cut beans
• 1/3 cup frozen peas
• 1 TBS butter (I used Earth Balance spread.)
• 1 to 2 TBS flour (I went with 100% whole wheat.)
• 3/4 to 1 cup beer *a stout or porter works best and will pair well with the meal <– sub veg broth

Directions

• Bring a pot of water to a boil, and add potatoes.  Cook until soft.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a large non-stick pan or dutch oven, saute onion and carrots* until onion looks glassy.  Add garlic, salt, pepper, and oregano.  Continue cooking 3-5 minutes.
• Crumble tempeh over the veggies and add peas and green beans.  Continue to cook the veggie mix until tempeh is heated through and the green beans have defrosted and cooked.
• Pour veggie mix into a casserole dish and let it sit while you prepare potato topping.  Drain cooked potatoes and whip with a hand mixer.  Add pumpkin.  Feel free to add a splash of milk or vegetable broth if needed.
• Using the now empty pan, melt butter.  Once melted, quickly stir in flour.  Once stirred, add beer or vegetable broth.  Stir lightly and quickly to create a sort of roux, but don’t worry about getting out all the lumps.  Continue cooking until boiling while you smooth out the lumps (maybe 2 minutes), then pour the tempeh mixture back into the pan.  Stir to coat.
• Pour the beer/broth and tempeh mixture back into the casserole dish and top with pumpkin/potato mixture.  Bake as long as you think it will take you to clean up your kitchen (approximately 15 minutes).

*I used olive oil spray, but butter or your preferred oil will be fine.  I also only added a pinch of salt.

After all that work, now you get hot comfort food and the rest of your beer.

Too bad I don’t like Guinness!