RECIPES

Lentil cottage pie with Mustard Basil mash & golden Gloucester cheese crust

Traditional cottage pie, with good quality meat in rich gravy, underneath light fluffy mash was one of my favourites, good comfort food. So to find a suitable vegetarian alternative was a high priority, puy, brown or green lentils came to the rescue.

The secret to good lentils is getting the flavour in through the onions, garlic and spices; this is then absorbed into the lentils as they are cooking.

Soak the lentils for about 8 hours, over night or during the day cuts down the cooking time considerably. Soaking is definitely a good thing, the colour of the soaking water is proof in its self, it also tenderises and brings out I suspect, enzymes that cause flatulence, an effect people notice if there bodies are not used to eating many pulses, my belief is that 8-10 hours of soaking lessens the effect!

A vegan topping could be some sunflower and pumpkin seeds, whole or ground sprinkled on top, with a drizzle of olive oil before it going into the oven.

These recipes serve 4-6 people

Ingredients for the base

• 150 grams puy, brown or green lentils~ soaked overnight
• 2 tins of tomatoes~ chopped
• 1-2 med onions~ chopped
• 2-3 cloves of garlic~ chopped
• 1 glass wine or stock
• 100-200 grams of strong Gloucester or cheddar, if appropriate~ grated
• Spices: 1 teaspoon of each cumin, coriander, chilli to taste
• 600 ml water
• 2-3 dessertspoons of polenta~ to thicken the mix
• Oil for frying
• Salt and pepper

• 1 medium pie dish with deep sides
• Pre-heated oven to 200oC

Ingredients for the mash

• 500-600g Potatoes
• 150-200ml milk or alternative
• 50- 60g butter or 25 ml hemp oil
• 25g whole hemp seed~ finely ground
• 1 bunch of basil~ washed and finely shredded
• Seasoning: 1-2 dessertspoons each Dijon or seeded mustard
• A pinch of nutmeg and a little salt and black pepper
• Light oil for frying

• 1 medium saucepan with lid

Method

• Fry the onions and garlic in the oil until golden brown. Infuse with your chosen spices for a few moments on a lowered heat, turn it back up slightly as you add and reduce in the wine or stock.
• Add the tomatoes, drained and rinsed lentils, half the water and simmer with lid on for 40 minutes or so, stirring regularly.
• As the liquid is absorbed, add a little more water if necessary to stop them sticking, bearing in mind the end result wants to be a quite solid mix, firm enough to set the potatoes on top of.
• Scrub and cut the potatoes into quarters, place in pan just covering them with water, add a little salt, and simmer for 20 minutes, until soft.
• Drain, add the milk or alternative, butter and mash the potatoes thoroughly. Whisk or beat in the mustard, seasonings and hemp seed. The mash should be soft enough to drop easily from a spoon, add I little more liquid if appropriate, finally add and mix through the basil, leave to one side as you finish the lentils.
• Once cooked, having absorbed most of the liquid, season the lentils with salt and black some pepper.
• Now to thicken the mix with the polenta, sometimes your lentils end up wetter than others, this is how to correct it. Sprinkle on the polenta and mix it through, leave it for 5 minutes to see how it stiffens up.
• It should be firm enough to stand the potato being laid on top without sinking, add some more polenta until it is at that consistency, then pour into the bottom of pie dish, smooth out and leave to cool for a few minutes.
• With your broadest spatula or largest spoon, one scoop of potato at a time, start in one corner and scrap off the first 3-3 spoonfuls onto the edge of the dish and then building onto them. As if to create a bridge across the top of the pie, from then on you can drop the mash onto the on top of the lentils, pushed up against each other, trying to over lap them slightly, not letting any of the spoonfuls sink to the bottom.
• Then using a fork, lightly even out any bumps and spread out evenly, placing it onto a middle shelf of your pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes.
• 10 minutes before the end of cooking remove from the oven and sprinkle the cheese or alternative on top, place it back on the top shelf and turn up the oven slightly. Alternatively you can place it under the grill to give a quicker crust.

Leftovers:

Great reheated the next day. If you make more lentils mix, it has as many uses. Also turns into a great soup, melted down with a little stock or water.