Lentil shepherd's pie
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 4
Is it a shepherd's pie or a cottage pie? As it's meat free you can call it what you like. Either way, it's super-filling vegetarian comfort food at its best.
Each serving provides 400kcal, 15g protein, 47g carbohydrate (of which 9.5g sugars), 12.5g fat (of which 6g saturates), 9g fibre and 0.6g salt.
Ingredients
For the champ topping
- 3 floury potatoes, such as King Edward or Maris Piper, peeled, chopped
- small handful frozen peas
- knob of butter
- 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
- 25ml/1fl oz milk
- 75g/3oz mature cheddar, broken into chunks
- pinch smoked paprika
For the lentil mixture
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ red onion, roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 2 small carrots, finely chopped
- 1 celery stalk, trimmed, finely chopped
- 400g tin plum tomatoes
- splash Worcestershire sauce (optional, see recipe tips)
- few drops Tabasco
- pinch smoked paprika
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- 85ml/3fl oz red wine
- 100ml/3½fl oz vegetable stock
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- splash balsamic vinegar
- small handful fresh flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 400g tin Puy lentils
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
For the champ topping, heat a pan of salted water, add the potatoes and bring gently to the boil. Simmer until the potatoes are nearly cooked through, about 15–20 minutes. When the potatoes for the champ topping are almost done, add the frozen peas and cook for a few more minutes until the peas are tender. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, for the lentil mixture, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Gently fry the chopped onion, garlic, carrots and celery for 5–10 minutes, until softened.
Add the remaining ingredients for the lentil mixture, except for the lentils. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has reduced. Stir in the lentils.
For the champ topping, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Gently fry the spring onions until softened. Add the milk and heat through.
Mash the potatoes and peas roughly. Add the warm milk mixture to the potatoes and continue to mash until combined, but still chunky.
Spoon the lentil mixture into a medium pie dish and top with the champ. Scatter over the cheese and smoked paprika.
Place the dish on a baking sheet and bake for 25–30 minutes, or until the potato topping is golden-brown. Serve hot.
Recipe tips
Worcestershire sauce isn't vegetarian, though you can buy vegetarian varieties from some health food shops. Alternatives include Henderson's relish and mushroom ketchup.
To freeze, make in an oven and freezer safe dish or tin. Cool thoroughly, then wrap in kitchen foil before freezing. Defrost in the fridge and reheat in the oven – still covered in foil – until piping hot throughout (about 25 minutes at 180C). Alternatively, freeze in individual portions in containers and reheat in the microwave.
