Kidney (Bean) Pot Pie

A recent discussion among friends started out with general puzzlement over the British concoction called "Steak and Kidney Pie". Bleh!
.
Don't ask me how a bunch of vegans get to talking about these things! Of course none of us had tasted said pie, or really knew for sure what went in one. Obviously we weren't keen on trying it, what with the whole "kidney" thing - so I can't honestly say if they actually TASTE disgusting or just sound that way. (No offense to the British or those that eat such things.)
.
Our conversation then turned to the possible creation of a vegan version... with kidney beans.

Sounds much better, yes? Problem being, I really don't care for kidney beans. AT. ALL. And my friends know that, so the whole Meatless-Kidney-Bean Pie idea moved on to other, more interesting topics.

However, I was intrigued by the idea of a bean pot-pie, and in doing a Google search, found very few ideas - so I decided it must be something the world needed. With our recent cool weather, something warm from the oven sounded good. I even used cannellini beans, which are white kidney bean (or fazolia beans) - just to show I'm open minded enough to cook with things I'm not crazy about.

The end result, I must say, was super easy (mainly because I used leftovers and *gasp* canned beans), and my kids LOVED it. That's the important part, of course. I think it's going to be a winter-time staple!! Obviously you can vary this however you'd like...

Kidney Bean Pot Pie

• 1 box puff-pastry, thawed
• 1 deep dish pie pan (or four individual ramekins)

Press 1 pc. puff pastry into bottom of pie pan.
Make filling:

• 2 cups soymilk
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Heat the soymilk until almost boiling, mix cornstarch with enough water to make a thick mixture. Whisk into soymilk. Stir and bring to a boil, keep whisking, turn down to simmer and add salt and pepper, simmer until thickened. Remove from heat. Set aside.

• 2 cups cooked mixed vegetables of your choice. These can be a frozen mix or leftovers.
• 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (or any beans of your choice)
• 1 medium sweet or white potato, cooked and cubed small
• pinch of thyme
• 1/2 an onion or leek, chopped or sliced and sauteed until just starting to brown
• some mushrooms would be good, though I didn't have any at the time

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, combine cream-sauce, and vegetables.
Spoon filling into bottom pie crust. Cover with top puff-pastry crust, and crimp edges to seal. You can be pretty rustic with puff pastry and it still looks good, just cut and shape to fit aproximately. Slit top crust.
Bake for 40 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven, and cool for 10 minutes before serving.