No Illusion, Its a Fusian!...Vegan Italian Style Shepard's Pie

Well the 80's came aaaannnnnddd they left.  It's a somewhat chilly day compared to the high 80's we had over the past few days.  I thought I would go with something a little bit more comforting.  Heck, there aren't going to be too many more cool days left this summer to cook dishes like this (crap, I hope I didn't jinx us!)

Anyway, I was having a "cookers" block.  And then I thought what can I do with Shepard's Pie to make it a fusion with a different cuisine.  Italian seemed to make the most sense for some reason.  Ryan has it doubts, so clearly...challenge excepted.  I had a feeling it would be pretty damn good. 

Tvp mixed with your favorite marinara, topped with wonderfully sauteed zucchini and eggplant, then topped with mountainous pillows of garlic scape mashed potatoes????  Um yeah, pretty confident that this will be a winner. 

If you are not familiar with garlic scapes or cannot find them, simply just replace them with minced garlic cloves.

Vegan Italian Style Shepard's Pie

Ingredients: (yields 2 personal "pies"

1/2 c tvp

1/2 c vegan beefless broth

1/4 c yellow onion chopped

3/4 c of our favorite marinara sauce

Italian seasoning

1 tbsp evoo

1/2 c  zucchini cut and quartered

1/2 c  eggplant, cut into small cubes

1 potato, skin removed and quartered

2 tbsp chopped garlic scapes

1 tbsp vegan butter

1/4 unsweetened almond milk, or vegan milk of choice

s+p

Directions:

Preheat oven 350.  In a small sauce pan, bring vegan beefless broth to a boil, add in tvp, stir and remove from heat.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes.  Once soft, add in marinara and combine thoroughly.  Add in Italian seasonings and s+p to taste.

In the meantime, heat evoo over medium heat in a saute pan and saute zucchini and eggplant for about 5 minutes or until just soft enough.  Do not overcook.  Season with s+p.  Set aside.

Now, time for the mashed potatoes.  Add water to a pot and boil potatoes and garlic scapes until potatoes are soft.  Remove from heat and drain.  Transfer to blender, add in vegan butter and almond milk.  Blend until smooth.  Add in seasoning and more "milk/butter" if needed.  Transfer your mashed potatoes to a pastry bag or a plastic baggie (this is only if you want to make the "peaks", if you do not care, no need).

Now start to prepare your "pie".  Start with your tvp "meat" mixture, then spoon over the vegetables, and then top with the garlic scape mash.  Transfer to oven and cook for roughly 30 minutes or until the mashed potatoes are slightly golden.