Caribbean Shepherd’s Pie w/ Crust

1. For potato layer, boil shredded potatoes until soft and mushy. Drain and mash. Mix with nutritional yeast, garlic salt, and pepper to make super yummy garlic cheesy mashed potatoes. For veggie layer, heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion, green beans, garlic, carrot, and peppers to the heated pan. Saute for 3-5 minutes, or until veggies become fragrant. Add the pineapple at the end.
2. For vegan meat layer, boil corn in water for 10-15 minutes, or until it starts to soften. Add the shiitake mushrooms and the textured soy protein to the hot water. Set aside and let the mushrooms and textured soy protein soften, then drain excess water. Mix with corn. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and lightly grease a small baking dish (I used 6x9").
3. For dough layer, mix the wheat flour, baking powder, garlic salt, and some pepper. Mix the yeast with the warm water and the sugar. Let the yeast dissolve and start to get frothy, about 10 minutes. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and mix to get a slightly sticky dough. If dough is too wet, add more flour and if too dry, add more water. It should be similar to a biscuit dough.
4. To assemble, coat the bottom of prepared dish with cornmeal. Roll the dough out to the shape of your baking dish and lay in the bottom. Next add the textured soy protein mixture, spreading it to the sides of the dish. Top that layer with the mixed veggies.
5. Pour the prepared gravy over the veggie layer. Finish with the cheesy mashed potatoes, making sure to spread them over the top evenly. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top of the mashed potatoes starts to brown and form a “skin”. Take out of the oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes, until everything firm up a bit. Slice and serve!
This was actually much better the next day. Sitting in the fridge overnight let all the flavors meld and everything firmed up so that it stayed in place when I served it. I always hate shepherd’s pie cuz everything falls apart when you try to serve it. The crust really helps out in this recipe and the seasoning peppers and pineapple make it super wonderful. If you can’t find seasoning peppers you can just use bell peppers, but the aji dulce peppers really give it that Caribbean flavor.