Lazy Sundays for a Meat-free Lancashire Hotpot

Tempeh Lancashire Hotpot

• Ingredients
  • 500 ml vegetable broth, divided into 200ml and 300ml portions
  • 100 ml red wine
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vegetable or groundnut (peanut) oil
  • 200g tempeh, cut into ½ inch cubes
  • 1 tablespoon vegan worcestershire
  • 1 tablespoon tamari
  • 2 teaspoon Natex (or other yeast extract)
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon mustard powder or ½ teaspoon prepared hot mustard
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 100 g (about 1 cup) thinly sliced onion
  • 150 g (about 1.5 cups) peeled and sliced carrot
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • Enough floury (such as King Edward) potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼ inch slices, to cover surface of your chosen oven dish
  • Salt and freshly grated black pepper

• Directions/Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees celcius (285 F).
  2. Combine the 300 ml portion of broth, yeast extract, worcestershire, tamari, and thyme in a bowl and set aside.
  3. Add the 200 ml broth and wine to a large frying or saute pan, and add the tempeh, coriander, and bay leaf. Simmer at medium-high for 10-12 minutes, or until most (not necessarily all) liquid has cooked off. Agitate the pan from time to time and/or spoon some of the broth over the tempeh pieces as they won't be fully submerged.
  4. Remove the tempeh pieces with a slotted spoon or spatula and place on a plate. Pour any remaining juices into a 7 x 10 inch oven dish (or something vaguely that size). You can add a bit of extra broth, water, or wine to deglaze the pan if you'd like- just add it all to the oven dish, including the bay leaf.
  5. Don't turn the heat off. Just rinse the pan and add the tablespoon of oil and pop back on the hob. Re-add the tempeh pieces and carefully fry all sides until browned. They'll be darkly coloured with wine so it may be hard to spot the browning, but the tempeh will turn a deep, rich red. Once browned on all (or most) sides, after 5-7 minutes, use the spatula or slotted spoon to remove to the oven dish.
  6. Turn the heat down the medium and add the 1 teaspoon of oil. Tip the onion and carrot in and fry until the onion are translucent and the veg are beginning to brown, about 6-8 minutes. Add the flour and stir to coat the vegetables relatively evenly. Pour in the liquid ingredients from step two and whisk to mix well (a few small lumps are okay). Cook until the gravy begins to thicken, whisking or stirring often. You may need to turn the heat up a little to achieve this.
  7. Pour the gravy with veg over the tempeh. Top the casserole with an overlapping tightly knot layer of potato slices. Spray or brush with some extra oil, cover with a lid or foil, and bake for two hours.
  8. After two hours, remove the dish from the oven and ditch the lid or foil. Up the oven heat to 200 C (400 F) and once the oven has preheated to this, stick the hotpot back in there for 40-50 minutes. You'll know when dinner is ready when the potatoes are brown and crispy.