Plant based shepherd’s pie
I never ate shepherd’s pie even as a meat eater so I’m not sure why the idea appeals to me so much now. But there is something rustic, homey and comforting about the idea. That, and I’m just loving the myriad of options and cooking methods available in plant based eating and I’m loving meeting the challenge of knowing what nutritional needs I’m meeting in each meal. This is a goodie!
This is essentially a vegetarian chilli dish with a cauliflower/sweet potato puree topping to turn it into a delicious pie! It is so, so yummy.
Vegetarian chilli:
1 chopped leek
2 cloves garlic
1 red chilli, finely chopped
3/4 cup cubed pumpkin
1 carrot, diced
2 celery stalks, diced,
1/2 zucchini, chopped
1/2 red capsicum, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 jar passata (or 1 400g tin crushed tomatoes or equivalent of chopped fresh tomatoes)
1 cup cooked brown lentils
1 400 g tin Four Bean mix
Saute the leeks, garlic and chilli, before adding in the pumpkin pieces. Allow them to cook a little before adding in the celery, capsicum and carrot. Season with salt and pepper as soon as the veggies go in, as you’ll be amazed how much more flavour the veggies take on with seasoning at this point. After 5 or so minutes, add in the beans, lentils, cumin and passata and allow mixture to simmer until cooked but not overdone, as it will be baked further.
Pie topping:
1/2 cauliflower
1 peeled and chopped sweet potato.
1 T coconut oil
salt and pepper
1/2 crushed garlic clove
Steam the cauliflower pieces and sweet potato. Once cooked through, blend into a puree and mix in the remaining ingredients.
Spoon the vegetarian chilli mixture into ramekins and spoon cauliflower/sweet potato puree on to the top. Bake in the oven until the top is browned (or as in my case, I made the pies at lunch time and needed 30 mins in the oven at night to reheat them and brown the top!)
Absolutely divinely delicious and so so good for you! There is nothing bad in this. It is all protein, iron, vitamins, minerals and taste! And it feels like it warms you from the inside so will be a great Autumn/winter favourite for us. Hope you love it too!
