vegan cottage pie

I love this recipe, it’s one of those dishes that is the epitome of comfort food. It’s good for cold days, hot days, medium days and everything in between. It’s also easy to make and super easy to adapt to what you have available in the pantry.

What you’ll need:

½ cup                    dried lentils (cooked until just tender)

3                             potatoes, skinned and chopped into chunks

1 can                     coconut milk

± 2 cups                water

90 g                        vegan butter or margarine

2 TBS                     olive oil

1                             large white onion, diced

2                              large garlic cloves (4 if they are small), minced

2                              large carrots, peeled and diced

2                             stick celery, about the same amount as the carrots. Diced

100 g                     mushrooms (I used exotic, but you can use any really)

2 tsp                      mild curry powder

1 tsp                      cayenne pepper

1 tsp                      ground cumin

80 g                        tomato paste (like one small can)

100 ml                  red wine

250 ml                  veg stock

200 g                     frozen peas

1 can                     black beans

Salt and pepper to taste

How to do it:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. In a medium/large pot, add all the chopped potatoes, the coconut milk and enough water to just cover. Toss in a dash of salt and bring to a boil, cook until tender.
3. In another medium/large pot, heat up the olive oil. Add the diced onions and garlic, sauté until translucent.
4. Add the diced carrots and celery. Cook for about 10 minutes until the veg starts getting soft.
5. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the soften.
6. Add the curry powder, cayenne, and cumin. Stir and cook for a minute until fragrant.
7. Add the tomato paste and stir through, the bottom of the pot should be looking a bit dark, this is where you stat deglazing. This is adding the red wine a little at a time to get the nice, tasty bits off the bottom and infuse everything with some yum flavor.
8. Add the veg stock, peas, black beans and lentils. Reduce to a simmer until the mixture has reduced a bit.
9. Your potato should be cooked now. Strain them and add back to the hot pot but off the heat.
10. Here you can use a potato masher or a handheld blender. I used a blender because it makes the mash super smooth. Add the butter and a dash of salt while you are mashing/blending and keep going until it’s the consistency you like.
11. In a casserole dish or any other sort of oven proof dish, dish out the lentil mixture. I made 2 smallish ones with this recipe.
12. Top with the mashed potatoes and spread evenly with a fork. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the potato has browned a bit.
13. Serve with fresh basil or rocket or a fresh green salad.

As always, thanks so much for reading, and if you like what you see, don’t be afraid to like and subscribe ❤

If you try this recipe drop me a message and let me know how it turned out, or you can tag me in your creations on Instagram @flightoffancyfood or on Facebook @ninabakesstuff.

If you are looking for some other savoury dishes to impress how about these:

• Festive butternut roast
• Mexican rice bake
• Chickpea chilli

Love and health to all of you,

xx

N