Dinner · British

Lentil & mushroom cottage pie

Name: Lentil & mushroom cottage pie
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 2 tbsp Olive oil; 1 Brown onion; 2 Carrots; 2 sticks Celery; 250g Chestnut mushrooms; 2 cloves Garlic, crushed; 1 tsp Dried thyme; 2 tbsp Tomato purée; 2 tins Green lentils, drained; 1 tbsp Soy sauce; 1 cube Vegetable stock cube, in 300ml water; 150g Frozen peas; 1kg Potatoes; 40g Butter; 100ml Semi-skimmed milk; 60g Mature cheddar, grated

Lentils and mushrooms in a rich gravy under cheddar mash. Nobody at the table misses the mince.

Start to finish: 1 hr 20 min
Hands-on: 46 min
In the fridge: 3 days
Freezes: Yes

VegetarianContains gluten, dairy, soya, celery

Ingredients

4 portions

2 tbspOlive oil
1Brown onion
2Carrots
2 sticksCelery
250gChestnut mushrooms
2 clovesGarlic, crushed
1 tspDried thyme
2 tbspTomato purée
2 tinsGreen lentils, drained
1 tbspSoy sauce
1 cubeVegetable stock cube, in 300ml water
150gFrozen peas
1kgPotatoes
40gButter
100mlSemi-skimmed milk
60gMature cheddar, grated

Plus salt, pepper and water.

Method

1
Finely chop the onion, carrots and celery. Chop the mushrooms and crush the garlic.
2
Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion, carrots and celery for 10 minutes, until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes more, until their liquid has cooked off. Stir in the garlic, thyme and tomato purée for a minute.
3
Add the lentils, soy sauce and the stock cube crumbled into 300ml boiling water. Simmer with the lid off for 15 minutes, until thick and rich, stirring in the peas for the last few minutes. Season.
17 min, mostly hands-off
4
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200C (180C fan). Peel the potatoes and cut them into even chunks.
5
Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes, until very tender. Drain, let them steam dry for a minute, then mash with the butter, milk and plenty of pepper.
25 min, mostly hands-off
6
Tip the lentils into a baking dish, spoon over the mash, rough up the top with a fork and scatter over the cheddar.
7
Bake for 25 minutes, until golden and bubbling at the edges. Serve, or cool and portion into tubs for the fridge or freezer.
27 min, mostly hands-off

On the day

Reheat in the oven or microwave until piping hot all the way through. Frozen portions are best defrosted overnight in the fridge first.

Cook’s tip

Worcestershire sauce is made with anchovies, so a spoonful of soy sauce does the savoury job here and keeps the pie vegetarian.