Spicy lentil vegan shepherd?s pie

Mon, 8 January 2018

Veganuary is a month-long pledge to avoid consuming animal products. If you're one of the thousands who have signed up you're probably apprehensive about the next 30 days.

Louise Kelly from 'I'm a little Vegan' joined us this morning with a delicious vegan recipe.

What you’ll need:

For the lentil mix:

250g cooked garden peas

400g cooked lentils of choice. I used brown and green here 

250g cooked butter beans

1 carrot finely chopped 

1 red onion finely chopped 

1 stick of celery finely chopped 

2 cloves of garlic minced

Handful of diced mushrooms

Veg stock 

Dried thyme

Ground cumin 

1 cup of passata or tinned tomatoes 

Maple syrup or sugar 

For the mash 

6-7 large potatoes

Tinned coconut milk or dairy free milk such as soy or almond 

Dairy free spread or olive oil

Salt/Pep

Dijon mustard 

(Vegan cheese: optional to melt into the mash or on top.)

For the lentil mix:

1.In a heated and oiled pan sautée the chopped celery, carrot, mushrooms, red onion and garlic in dairy free butter or olive oil and once cooked through add your dried thyme and ground cumin. 

2.After about 10 min add 250ml approx of veg stock into the pan with the veg. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer

3.Add in your cooked peas, butterbeans and lentils to the veg mix and stir through along with a cup of passata. 

4.I added a generous squeeze of maple syrup (or spoonful of sugar) and a large spoonful of chilli sauce (use less here if you’re not a fan of the heat. I used a brand called rebel chilli here. Cork based company and you'll find them in Dunnes stores. So tasty!) Adjust seasoning with salt/pep and a little more thyme to your liking..

5.Let it simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed but leave a little as it will dry out too much in the oven otherwise.

Spoon into an ovenproof dish and top with the creamy mash.

For the mash:

1.Peel and chop potatoes. Pop into a pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer heat until cooked through.

2.Drain and get mashing. I added a generous pour of tinned coconut milk, a spoon of mustard, salt/pep and a large spoon of dairy free butter. Mash until smooth and creamy. I grated a packet of violife cheese into the potato.

This is optional but who doesn’t love cheesy mash. (You'll find a dairy free vegan cheese called violife in the picture above in any of the fridge sections of Dunnes  Stores. )

3.Spread the mash evenly over the veg and lentil mix. 

4.Score across the top and into the oven at 180c for 30-35 min.

Remove from the oven and serve up. Voila!

I often substitute chickpeas in place of butterbeans, do all lentils or use a meat substitute called seitan which you'll find in most health food stores so don’t be a slave to the recipe. Once the mash is creamy and you've seasoned the lentil mix well you can't go wrong. So shake it up a little.

Watch how it's made below: