My mum used to make this dumpling based/ scone based casserole when I was younger with beef. I looked forward to it everytime! I’d eat the meat and vegies first, saving the scones till last, devouring the gravy and bits stuck to the bottom, before eating the goohy dough underneath!

Now this vegetarian version has some vegetarian mince plus the combination of mushrooms and chickpeas to give it a nice chunky stew. I’m sure, rather than using vegetarian mince, you could add some canned lentils in to get the same type of consistency!

Serve this with rice or mashed potatoes!

Serves:

• 3-4 large serves

Ingredients:

• 415 grams vegetarian mince (I use Sanitarium canned Casserole mince, soaked in water and drained in a strainer to remove gravy and any other flavour)
• 1/2 onion dice roughly
• 6 mushrooms, cut large
• 1 tab vegetarian beef-style stock cube (I use Massell brand)
• 1 tsp sage powder
• 2 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 can chickpeas, bashed a little to soften and allow easy breaking apart
• 1 tbs olive oil (for onions)
• water
• 4 tbs red wine
• SR flour 2-3 tbs

Scones

• 5-6 heaped tbs SR flour
• 1/2 tsp sage powder
• 50 gram butter melted
• pinch salt
• 2 tsp egg replacer
• 4 tbs nutritional yeast
• milk to mix together (judge based on dough dryness)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. Heat the garlic and onions in a pot with the olive oil.
3. When softened, add the spices and mix through thoroughly.
4. Place the mushrooms in and cook until semi-soft.
5. Place in the chickpeas and stir.
6. Pour the drained mince in and add the beef stock with the red wine.
7. Add more water at this stage to allow for a gravy. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. In a jug, place the flour for the scones, sage, salt and egg replacer together, stirring thoroughly.
9. Place the melted butter in and stir.
10. Pour a little milk in at a time to get the dough to a non-sticky but thick dough.
11. Knead the dough, before grabbing a piece (the size of a golf ball) and rolling and laying flat.  Repeat, until there’s no more dough.
12. Place some flour in your casserole to thicken and stir for a couple of minutes.
13. Pour the casserole into a casserole container and place the scones on top.
14. Place a lid on top and cook for around fifteen to twenty minutes in the oven.
15. At this stage, you could place some parmesan on top of the scones, if you’d like for some extra flavour. Take the lid off and cook for another eight minutes or until scones are golden brown.
16. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, before serving with your choice of rice or mashed potatoes!