Blog

LENTIL SHEPHERDS PIE WITH OLIVE OIL MASHED POTATOES

by in Recipes April 9, 2019

I made this very tasty Shepherds Pie with Lentils as the base instead of the usual minced Lamb.   I also mashed my Potatoes with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and some unsweetened Almond Milk, making this dish suitable for Vegans.    Potatoes mashed with Extra Virgin Olive Oil are delicious, and to be honest I would think most people would not realise the difference between them and those mashed with Butter.  However some Olive Oil’s are quite distinctive in flavour, so just be aware of this when choosing which EVOO to use for mashing.  The base of this freezes very well, so is great to have on hand to make a quick and easy dinner for another night, all you need to do is mash some Potatoes and you have another dinner.

  • 2 Onions – diced
  • 4 cloves of Garlic – crushed
  • 3 Carrots – peeled and finely diced
  • 2 sticks of Celery – peeled and finely diced
  • 2 Courgettes  –  finely diced
  • 1 large sprig of Thyme
  • 1/4 cup of Tamari (gluten free soy sauce)
  • 1 bottle of Tomato Passata
  • 2 tablespoons of Tomato Paste
  • Vegetable Stock (or hot water with Vegetable Bouillon)
  • 1 teaspoon of dried Chilli flakes
  • 2 cups of cooked brown Lentils
  • Potatoes – approx 8 large – peeled and cut into thirds
  • 1 bunch Spring Onions
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
  • Almond Milk
  • Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper

Saute your Onions, Carrots and Celery in some EVOO until the Onions are transparent.

Add the Courgettes and stir around for a minute then add the Garlic, Thyme and Chilli Flakes and stir around again.

Add the Tamari, Tomato Passata, Tomato Paste and bring to a simmer.

Add the cooked Lentils and if necessary add some Vegetable Stock to make a good saucy consistency, but you don’t want it to be too runny.  You may not need any Vegetable Stock at all.

Add some Ground Black Pepper and let simmer for 5 minutes.

The Tamari is salty, so taste at this stage, you probably will not need to add extra salt.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

Make your Mashed Potatoes, adding some sliced Spring Onions to them at the end.

Place the Lentils into an oven proof dish and cover with your Mashed Potatoes.

Place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes, until the top is nicely browned.

Serve with steamed Vegetables of your choice.

Mashed Potatoes –  this is how I make Mashed Potatoes!

Place the peeled Potatoes which have been cut into thirds into a saucepan of water and bring to the boil.  I cover my Potatoes totally with water.  (I know people like to steam them, but I find that if you are doing a larger amount the ones on the bottom cook and the ones on the top can still be hard in the middle)  Let them cook for roughly 25 minutes until thoroughly cooked through.  If there are any hard bits you will end up with hard bits in your mash!!  Once the potatoes are cooked and soft throughout, drain them and leave them in the saucepan.  Place a clean T Towel on top and put the lid on.  Leave them for 3 minutes and then take the lid off and take away the T Towel.  (The T Towel absorbs the steam off the potatoes and makes the Potatoes dryer, so you don’t have a wet mash)  Now mash with your Potato Masher, adding the EVOO, Almond Milk, Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper.  (Of course you can use Butter and Milk to mash your Potatoes if you wish).

print

    Cart