This is a version of shepherd’s pie but, as the name suggests, only using vegetables. It uses lentils in place of meat and, if you haven’t used lentil or simply don’t like the idea of lentils, do give this one a go; you might be surprised at how good they are in this pie. This recipe can easily be made vegan and is already gluten-free.
Ingredients
- 250g of green lentils (either cooked as on the packet or two tins of ready cooked lentils)
- 1kg potatoes
- 70g butter
- 60g cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons of cream
- 1 large onion (or two medium onions) – chopped
- 1 clove of garlic – chopped
- 1/4 of a cabbage – chopped
- 4 medium carrots – chopped
- A bunch of spring greens – chopped
- Some herbs (we used chive, rosemary and oregano) – chopped
- salt and pepper
Start by preparing and cooking your lentils. We use dried green lentils which require an overnight soak – so get prepared the day before. Boil and mash your potatoes adding 35g of butter and 20g of cheddar cheese along with the cream and some salt and pepper as they are being mashed. Set both the lentils and mashed potato aside.
Place the onions in a large pan with the rest of the butter (35g) and a big pinch of salt and set over a medium heat.
Cook these for about 20 minutes until they start to caramelise and turn golden.
Add the garlic, stir through and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Then add the carrots followed by the cabbage and then the spring greens.
Next the herbs go in, stir and cook for a further 10 minutes.
It is now time to add the cooked lentils and stir it all together; season with salt and pepper.
Take it off the heat and assemble the pie. First the lentil mixture goes in followed by a sprinkling of 20g of the cheese.
On goes the potato and the rest of the cheese (20g) goes on top.
Bake in the oven at 180C for about 30 minutes and it’s ready to serve.
Yum
