Shepherd’s Pie Recipe ~ vegan

This is such a delicious, simple dish which is perfect to serve if you are hosting, or a great meal prep option which you can eat over a couple of days or even freeze!

The beauty of it is that you can really use whatever ingredients you have on hand for the “mince” filling – so feel free to substitute any vegetables I used for other things. I will say that carrots, mushrooms and onions form a delicious base. As for the “meaty” substitute, opt for either of the following: brown/green lentils, black beans, TVP, soya mince, tempeh mince or a mixture of either.

This recipe serves ~6 people so adapt accordingly.

Ingredients:

• 2 large carrots
• 3 yellow onions
• 5 large mushrooms or 8-10 smaller ones
• 6-8 white potatoes (depends a little on their size, you want them to cover roughly the entire area of your chosen oven dish when you lay them out on the counter
• 1 block of tempeh (~200 g)
• 1/2 cup dry green lentils or just use 1 tin of lentils
• dairy-free single cream alternative e.g. Alpro cuisine soya, oatly cream
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• ~200mL tomato passata
• spices & herbs: salt, pepper, turmeric, smoked paprika, cumin, thyme, persil, garlic powder
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• I didn’t use these but might be nice: sunflower seeds (mixed with mince), garlic cloves, olives, chopped tomatoes.

Method.

• boil your lentils (unless you are using a tin) and peel + chop your potato and boil these too. mince your tempeh block in a food processor. set aside when done.
• you can either chop your veggies… or use a food processor which takes about 1 minute to do, and is what I do. blitz carrots, onion and mushroom together. transfer your veggies to a pot on medium-high heat and stir, stir, stir. you want them to release most of their liquid.
• once you are satisfied that your veggies are somewhat cooked and have reduced in size, add in your lentils and minced tempeh.
• season with tomato purée, spices and herbs. add in your tomato passata. you do not want the mince to be runny so add a little liquid at a time, just enough so the tempeh soaks it up and cooks, and prevents it from being dry.
• drain your boiled potatoes and mash ’em up. add in your dairy-free cream alternative (or milk + margarine), salt and pepper. leave some small potato chunks in for texture.
• transfer your mince to an oven dish.
• portion out the mashed potato as shown in the photo: first as dollops, which you can then spread out using a spatula or fork.
• use a fork to make some nice marks into the mashed potato.
• brush oil (or portion out tiny pats of margarine) on top of the mashed potato.
• cook in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. turn to broil/grill setting for an extra 3-5 minutes at the end, keeping a close eye on things so nothing starts to burn.
• finished! serve with a side salad and nice sauce.