Saturday 23 October 2021

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie


I started off thinking I was going to make a vegetarian Shepherd's Pie with soya mince, but a harvest of homegrown squash changed my mind/ingredients to squash and lentil.

This can be made vegan by using plant based spread, milk, and cheese in the mashed potato topping. And swapping Marmite for Worcestershire Sauce.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 large stick of celery, diced
1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
500g squash, swede, or parsnips, peeled and grated
1 can green lentils, or 150g green lentils cooked as per instructions
500g passata
500ml just boiled water
1 vegetable stock cube 
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1kg white potatoes
Large knob of butter
Whole milk
50g grated mature cheddar

Sweat the onion, carrot and celery in the olive oil for about 10 minutes with the lid. Add the garlic and grated vegetables and gently fry for another 10 minutes, making sure they don't catch on the bottom of the pan.

Add passata, lentils, water and crumbled stock cube.  Bring to the boil then simmer with a lid on for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.  Stir from time to time to make sure the pan is not drying out, adding more boiled water if it is.

Roughly chop the potatoes.  I leave the skins on, but my kids aren't keen on this timesaving approach.  Pour over boiling water, cover,  and boil for 10 minutes with a little salt until the potatoes are soft.  When soft, drain and mash with the butter and milk until you have a spreadable mash.

Pour the lentil & vegetable base into a lasagna dish.  Plop spoonfuls of mash over the mix to cover the surface.  Rough the potato up with a fork or a spoon to help it brown in the oven.  Sprinkle over cheese and bake for 40 minutes at 200C or until the liquid from the vegetable mix is bubbling up round the sides of the potato.  If not browned to your taste, place the pie under the grill watching it very carefully if you do.

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