A delicious, warming vegetarian dish, this Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie is one of my all time favourite meatless meals and a great way to warm the soul in Winter.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 2 medium sized carrots, diced
- 1 medium sized zucchini, diced
- 2 sticks celery, sliced
- 1 cup diced mushrooms
- 2 cups cooked brown lentils (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
- 425 g can diced tomatoes
- 250 ml (1 cup) vegetable stock (preferably home-made)
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Good pinch sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 1 tablespoon Gluten Free flour
- 5-6 medium sized potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-2cm cubes
- Handful sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds (optional)
Method
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Preheat your oven to 200℃.
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In a medium sized pot, sauté your onion and garlic in a little oil for a few minutes until opaque.
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Add the carrots, zucchini, celery, mushrooms, lentils, tomatoes, stock, rosemary, paprika, and seasoning.
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Bring to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.
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Meanwhile, mix the water and GF flour until combined and add to the pot to thicken for a few more minutes.
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Pour into an oven proof dish and top with the diced potato. Stud with any extra rosemary sprigs if you like.
Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the potato is golden and cooked through.
Non-Vegetarian version
- 500 g extra trim beef mince
- 1 small onion finely diced
- 1 carrot peeled and finely diced
- 1 stick of celery finely diced
- 2 cups salt-reduced beef stock
- 3/4 cup mushrooms diced
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 2 tbsp salt reduced tomato paste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1tbs Coconut Amino Acid Sauce
- 2 medium sized sweet potatoes cut in half longways
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Method
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Preheat oven to 170C
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Line a baking tray with baking paper and place sweet potato halves on tray.
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Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil, sprinkle with cinnamon and place in the oven for 50 min.
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When there’s about 20 minutes to go on the oven timer, heat remaining olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium/high heat.
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Add garlic and onion to the pan and fry, stirring constantly, until the onion is transparent.
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Add carrot, celery and mushrooms to the pan and continue to stir mixture until vegetables have softened.
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Add mince to the pan and break up with a wooden spoon to remove any lumps. Cook, stirring regularly, until mince has changed colour and is cooked through.
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Pour beef stock or bone broth and tomato paste and aminos into the pan and bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce to medium/low heat and allow to simmer and thicken for 10-15 minutes.
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While beef mixture is simmering, remove sweet potato from the oven (when cooked through and soft) and allow to cool slightly.
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Being careful not to burn yourself, scoop sweet potato flesh out of each half using a large spoon and place in a mixing bowl. Discard the skin.
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Using a fork (or potato masher) mash the sweet potato flesh until smooth.
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Pour beef mixture into a large baking dish and top with mashed sweet potato.
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Place in still hot oven for 15min to turn sweet potato golden and thicken the meat mixture further, then serve.
Variations:
Different pie top
- You can also top the pie with cauliflower pieces or cauliflower mash.
Dairy-free and vegan
- Omit the cheese.
Onion-free
- Replace the onion with a small bulb of fennel, finely diced.
Garlic-free
- Replace the garlic with a teaspoon of cumin powder and a pinch of chilli flakes.
Gut repair
- If you aren’t vegetarian and looking to include bone broth in your diet, substitute the vegetable stock with bone broth.
Add bacon
- I think brown lentils and bacon is a match made in heaven. So if you please, add 4 rashers of bacon with the onion.
Fussy eater tip
- Grate the vegetables so they sit behind the lentil/tomatoes.
