Why Is It Called Red Dragon Pie?
This tasty, savoury meat free shepherd’s pie is filled with leeks, carrots, kale and aduki beans in a herb and tomato savoury sauce and it has been a staple in our house for as long as I can remember.
The recipe it is based on can be found in the pages of our very battered copy of the fabulous Sarah Brown’s Vegetarian Kitchen. When Mr TS arrived in my life back in 1988, armed with this book and an equally splattered copy of The Cranks Recipe Book, I suspected that he might be The One; 30 years later he’s still here and we’re still cooking 😉 Red Dragon Pie caught my eye as I leafed through his book and lounged around (for back then we had time to leaf and lounge) and, while I can’t remember when I first cooked it, it made its way onto our regular menu ideas list.
It is the aduki beans which give it its wonderful name. According to Sarah Brown:
The Chinese call aduki beans ‘red dragon’ or ‘red wonder’ beans as they have found them to be so full of goodness…maybe you will have the power of the dragon after eating it!
You can imagine how well that idea goes down in a house full of children! One mouthful and you have super strength…fabulous! I’m just happy that they are packed with protein, fibre, potassium, iron, magnesium and vitamin B6 – little packets of super powers!
Suggestions For Substitutions
Over the years the recipe has evolved and I doubt very much whether any one pie has been exactly the same as the previous one. So don’t feel you have to stick religiously to my recipe, for this comforting veggie dish is an accommodating beast!
You can swap the leeks for onions, chuck in some more seasonal veg as the wheel of the year turns (swede, turnip, parsnip, pumpkin, courgettes (zucchini) all work well), swap the herbs around to suit your taste, put sliced potatoes on top instead of mash but never EVER leave out the aduki bans or you won’t get to be a dragon and that would be a terrible shame!
How To Trim Leeks
I love leeks, they are one of my favourite veg, but it was only fairly recently that I found out how to trim leeks properly!
When we moved here I started growing my own in the back garden, pulling them up with glee and merrily swiping off the top half of them without a thought. It was only when a friend asked me what on earth I thought I was doing that I realised my folly!
In my defence, I don’t remember ever seeing a leek until I was an adult cooking for myself. When I first bought them I probably bought those ready trimmed ones which have no top leaves to speak of.
Much like a spring onion lots of flavour is concentrated high up there in the top leaves and while they may be tougher that is no disadvantage in a slow cooked stew like this one. They have plenty of time to soften down and add their deliciousness to the dish.
How To Make Red Dragon Pie
Making this vegan shepherd’s pie is very simple and very satisfying.
- Begin with the leeks. Slice them up and pop them into a heavy bottomed pan with a good glug of oil, cover them and leave them to sizzle away on the lowest heat for a good fifteen minutes before adding anything else.
- Check them every now and again and, if they look like they might be trying to go brown, add a tablespoonful of water and they behave themselves again.
- Once the leeks are soft add the carrots, tomatoes and stock and simmer it all away for about 15 minutes before adding the aduki beans, thyme and kale.
- The lid goes back on and it is all simmered for a further ten minutes (add a bit more water if it goes dry).
- If you have time leave the filling to sit, covered and with the heat off for an hour or more. This allows all those lovely flavours to develop and meld and is well worth doing if you are organised enough to start this dish ahead of time – I’m usually not but I’m always glad when I am!
- While the filling is sitting (or while it’s bubbling away if you are in more of a hurry) boil and then mash the potatoes. Don’t smooth your potato when you spoon it on, fluff it with a fork so you get all those little peaks just crying out to be beautifully browned in your hot oven!
I serve this all year round but it makes its gala appearance every St David’s Day – Mr TS is Welsh, we met in Wales and this pie has a Red Dragon in it – perfect.
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Looking For More Easy Vegan Family Recipes?
Try my:
- Sausage and Apple Casserole
- Butter Bean Stew with Pumpkin
- Lentil Loaf – An Easy Vegan Sunday Roast
- Vegan Pizza Rolls to Tear and Share
- Easy Vegan Roast Potato Curry
Red Dragon Pie
Ingredients
- 2 leeks washed and sliced
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
- 350 g carrots chopped into large dice
- 250 ml rich vegetable stock (I use vecon)
- 400 g can of aduki beans drained and rinsed
- 400 g can of chopped tomatoes
- 75 g kale, stripped from the stem and chopped
- 1 tbsp thyme, finely chopped
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 500 g potatoes peeled and chopped into large chunks
- 2 tbsp vegan butter or margarine
- 1 generous tsp dijon mustard
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/390F
- Fry the leeks in the oil in a covered pan on the lowest heat for about 15 minutes or until really soft but not browned.
- Add the garlic and carrot and fry for a further minute.
- Add the stock and tomatoes and simmer, covered for about 10 minutes until the carrots are softening.
- Add the aduki beans, thyme and kale and simmer for a further 5 minutes until the kale is just cooked. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Leave to cool a little and absorb flavours while you cook the potatoes.
- Bring a large pan of water to a boil, add a pinch of salt and the potatoes. Simmer for about 10 - 20 minutes until the potatoes are fork soft. Drain well. Return to the dry pan add butter and mustard and mash until soft and fluffy.
- Put the filling into an oven proof dish (I used a stoneware loaf pan), top with the mashed potato. Fluff the potato with a fork and bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes until browned and crisp on top.
Excellent choice with St. David’s Day tomorrow!
Thank you! *bows*
Looks yummy! I’m always on the look out for new bean recipes. And we love dragons here too.
Just watch out, they get super strength and may start breathing fire!
I love this. Thank you. I’m Welsh and am now raring to try this tomorrow.
Hooray! Let me know how you get on!
I took the mashed potato option. It was fabulous and went down a treat. Thank you ;0)
The only thing that I did differently was to mash up the aduki beans when they’d finished simmering in order to disguise them from the children who would have turned their noses up at the sight of so many beans. (they take after their dad). The strategy paid off, lol.
Hooray! How satisfying! 😀 I used to mash beans for mine and gradually mashed less vigorously until they were just a bit squashed and then not at all!
I love the idea of potatoes on top!
Nom nom nom what a great idea, husband is vegetarian and I always end up cooking the same thing so this is a godsend of a recipe. Thanks you!
My pleasure! Hope it goes down well! x
Life long veggie her and keen to try this looks LOVELY! .
Love it and all my family and friends (including non-veggies !) love it too 🙂
How wonderful to hear! It’s been my fall back recipe for more years than I care to remember – which has to be a good sign! 🙂
Fantastic! I like to use sweet potatoes mashed on top or a mix of both white and sweet potatoes. Delicious!
Yes! Me too when the sweet potato haters in my family aren’t around! How can you hate a sweet potato?!
I was introduced to red dragon pie by my first girlfriend over 30 years ago n have never forgotten it. I was amazed to find a recipe online. I often thought she had made up the name herself but clearly not !! I forgot the ingredients but remembered the aduki beans. Can’t wait to try again !!
Aw, what a lovely story! It’s amazing how tastes and smells can take us back in time! Thanks for taking the time to tell me your story 🙂
I too have very fond memories of my mother making this when I was a child. I’m making it for the first time since I was about 12 and it brings back lots of happy and comforting memories. Funny how food can do that eh? ?
Does anyone know how well this freezes?
Hi Amber – the filling freezes really well once it is cooked, I usually do the mashed potato fresh but that is a personal preference rather than a necessity! If you make sure you have plenty of vegan butter in your mash it should also freeze well. Hope that helps 🙂 x
Thanks!
If you bake the potatoes instead of boiling them it freezes great as there is less e is less moisture.
Absolutely right, top tip! Thanks Amanda! x
Made this today… Absolutely delish. I had a layer of quorn mince in a thick marmite gravy as a bottom layer, then the adzukini beans, leeks etc as second layer, and caramalised cheddar onion on top.
This sounds like a fabulous vegetarian alternative, well done!
My grandmother made this for me as a teenager and it was my absolute favourite. The recipe went with her (booo) and i am thrilled to see it once again in black and white – thank you. It’s an amazing meal and so well balanced
Hooray! I’m so pleased 🙂 x
My whole family just loved this recipe. Thanks so much!
Ah, that’s fabulous to hear, thank you!
Love this recipe, I also add 50g rice and some chilli flakes
Tried this tonight and it was delicious. Loved the aduki beans. Thank you x
I’m delighted! Thanks Trish! Aduki beans are little powerhouses, I love them!x
We used to make RDP (as we called it back then) in the 90’s when the kids were young. Found your recipe by chance and remembered I had a jar of dried aduki beans at the back of a cupboard, and the rest of the ingredients within easy reach. Followed your quantities but had some San Marzano tomatoes and celery that needed using up so chopped them and threw ’em in (as well as the tinned tomatoes) and subbed spinach for the kale. It’s cooling just now; looks good, tastes better and it’s a really good amped-up version of Sarah Brown’s original – we have her book, too 🙂 – thank you.