Lentil Cottage Pie (Vegan)

I had some friends over for dinner last night and I made a Lentil Cottage Pie. Josh and I made it last week too, so I thought it would be a low stress meal to re-create, as it's dead easy and quick.

I got the recipe from a book called "NOW Vegan" (stupid name) by Lynda Stoner - my vegan friend H-dizzle let us borrow it. There was no picture to accompany the recipe, which is probably because it doesn't look so hot or photogenic ... BUT i wanted to try and get a nice shot of it so you can all see how delicious it is. Well i will just ruin the undoubtedly unbearable suspense and tell you that the photo aint good. It does the pie no justice. I think i will start with the recipe and perhaps you will be so intrigued that you wont judge the book by it's cover which i am strategically placing at the END... The recipe is paraphrased and slightly altered from "Now vegan"...

Ingredients:

- Olive Oil

- Medium Brown Onion

- 1-2 Cloves of crushed garlic

- 1-2 sticks celery & leaves- finely chopped

- 1/2 cup tinned tomatoes

- 2-3 tablespoons tomato paste

- 1 cup carrots (finely sliced)

- 1 bunch English Spinach

- 2 x 400g tins brown lentils

- salt & pepper to taste

- 4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

- 1 medium sweet potato (kumara), peeled and chopped
- Vegan Margarine (I used nuttelex brand)

- little bit of soy milk

- paprika and dried thyme leaves

* I used a sheet of pastry for the base, but the recipe doesnt call for it.

So, put the potato and sweet potato on to boil, then drain when they are tender and set aside to cool a bit.

Cook the onion in olive oil, then add garlic and celery until fragrant. Now add tomatoes and tomato paste and cook until heated through. Add carrot, spinach, and lentils - cook until the spinach is soft. If the mixture is too runny add 1tsp cornflour mixed with a little bit of water. Season with salt and pepper and anything else you think will make it yummy.

Mash the potato/sweet potato with some nuttelex and soy milk to get a nice consistency which you can spread over the pie.

If you are using pastry, grease a pie dish, and line it with pastry. put some pricks in with a fork so that it doesnt puff up. I weighted my pasrty down with a sheet of baking paper and ceramic pie weights (you can also use rice). Bake in a hot oven until golden brown (about 10 minutes or so), then remove the weights and cook a bit longer until the base is cooked too. Take it out and scoop the filling in, and top with the potato mix. Then sprinkle it with your fvourite herbs and spices - i chose cayenne pepper and dried thyme. Chuck it back in the oven until the top is golden brown.

If you dont want to use pastry, just put the filling and potato straight into a casserole dish and bake.

And now... for the ugliest picture ever...

Well, it tasted nice. Please don't judge it unfairly. You must try it. My friend even had seconds!

So there!