Shepherd’s Pie, Please
It’s a pretty gloomy Tuesday here in Seattle, so I figured I’d make some classic comfort food to fill my belly with warmth—so I made a veggie Shepherds pie!
I always love Shepherds pie, it’s perfect for cozy days and is full of good for your body kinds of ingredients. And this is my take!
What you will need:
a two-handed handful of mushrooms (I used oyster! But a classic brown mushroom would work wonderfully)
Half a cup of red lentils
one medium yellow onion
three medium sized carrots
about half a cup of frozen peas
two cloves of garlic
five or six medium sized red potatoes (or whatever kind of potato you fancy, it will be the topping to the pie)
1/2 cup of veggie broth
Worchestire Sauce
about a teaspoon and a half of smoked paprika (or however much you want)
about a teaspoon and a half of turmeric
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil (or the oil of your choice)
a big ol’ scoop of ghee (or butter, or non-dairy butter substitute!)
two pots, a big pan and a casserole dish
First things first, we want to get those potatoes cooking, so get them peeled, placed in a pot full of water and boiling. While those boil away, let’s get going on the filling! Grab a big ol’ pan and get it warming on med-high heat. While your pan heats up, dice your onions, carrots, mushrooms and give your garlic a mince. Once your pan is hot, add enough olive oil (or the oil of your choice) to coat the bottom and throw your carrots and onions in it to get cooking. Feel free to move them around every once in a while to make sure nothing starts sticking to the bottom of the pan.
While your onions and carrots are cooking, check on those potatoes! You’ll know they are done cooking if you can get a butter knife through them easily. Once they are finished, drain the water, transfer them to a big bowl and get them mashed up. Once they are properly mashed, add salt and pepper to taste as well as a big ol’ scoop of ghee (or butter). Set these aside.
Let’s get back to your onions and carrots!! Once the onions have a translucent look and the carrots a wee bit soft, you can add your garlic and mushrooms! Mix those in nicely, adding more oil if needed, and cover.
Now we’ve got all the veg cooking together nicely, let’s get those lentils ready! Grab a pot and your half cup of lentils, throw the lentils in the pot as well as a cup and a half of water (usually red lentils take a 1:3 ratio of lentils to water/liquid) and get them up to a boil. Once they boil, you can reduce the heat, cover and let them simmer until they are cooked through (give them a taste to see if they are done!).
This is a good time to turn your oven onto about 350 degrees F, want that ready!
Once you’ve got your lentils cooking, let’s mix your smoked paprika, turmeric, salt and pepper into your veggies as well as about ten dashes of Worchestire sauce (or as many as you like—it adds a heartiness to your dish) and your veggie broth. Grab that half cup of frozen peas to add to the mix, they don’t take long to cook at all. After about eight minutes your lentils will be finished. Drain any excess water and add them to your veggie mix, giving everything a good stir so everything is well incorporated.
Now that we have both parts to your Shepherd’s pie prepped, grab your oven safe dish and add your mushroom/lentil mixture to the bottom, spreading it out evenly. Once you’ve done that, top it with your mashed potatoes, making sure to get everything covered! Give it a good pat down, maybe take a fork and create the lined pattern on top like I did, and throw that goodness in to the oven! Cook your pie for about 25/30 minutes, or until the top of the potato looks a little golden and voila! Shepherd’s pie!
I topped mine with a dollop of sour cream and a little chili flake to give it a kick <3
Eat up, nourish that sweet body of yours and have the most luscious of day, beauties!
