Porkie Pies
[Vegan]

For the Hot Water Pastry:

1. Put the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add approximately one-quarter of the vegetable shortening and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
2. In a small saucepan, 1⁄2 cup water with the remaining vegetable shortening until it has reached boiling point.
3. Pour into the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until it comes together into a dough. Use immediately.

For the Filling:

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic for 5 minutes until softened. Add the balsamic vinegar, yeast extract, or miso paste and mushrooms and cook for a further 8 minutes until brown and sticky. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
2. Add the mushroom mixture to a food processor along with the beans, walnuts, oats, flour, herbs, tomato purée, and salt and pepper, to taste. Pulse until you have a uniformly chunky mixture.
3. Preheat the oven to 350ºF
4. Brush six holes of a muffin tin with some oil.
5. Roll out your pastry on a floured surface to ½cm/¼in thick. Using a small upside-down bowl, cut out circles that are about 2.5cm/1in bigger than the muffin tin holes.
6. Gently press the circles into the greased muffin tin holes to create a neat shape. Don’t trim off any extra pastry, but brush the top edge with a little of the aquafaba or milk.
7. Roll the porkie mixture into six even balls then press a ball into each pastry case. Cut smaller circles, roughly the same size as the muffin tin holes, with the remaining pastry. Make a hole in the middle of each of them, big enough to fit a funnel nozzle through. Gently place these over the pies and press down the edges with a fork. Use a small sharp knife to trim off the excess pastry around the edges.
8. Brush with the aquafaba or milk and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.
9. To make the jelly filling, simply whisk the vegetable gelatine powder with the vegetable stock in a small saucepan over high heat.
10. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Pour the liquid through a funnel into the pie holes very slowly until it’s just about to overflow. Allow to set for at least 30 minutes. Store the pies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.