Lentil ‘Cottage’ Pie

This is a delicious and wholesome dish that packs a variety of your daily essential ingredients. This dish is also great for batch cooking and storing in the freezer, which will keep for up to 3 months.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 peppers, washed, de-seeded and roughly chopped (any colour works, use what you have to help reduce food waste)
4 stalks of celery, sliced
1 tin kidney beans, drained
1 tin black beans, drained
1 tin green lentils, drained
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp truffle oil
2 stock pots made up with 2 cups of hot water
1 tsp smoked paprika
Black pepper to taste
Sea salt to taste (remember the stock pots already have salt so perhaps water until you have mixed all the ingredients together to taste, before adding)
2 cups frozen peas
6 large sweet potatoes, washed, peeled and diced 2-3 cm pieces
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp mixed Italian herbs or simply Oregano
Chopped coriander for garnish
Olive oil for frying

Optional: plant-based cheese of your choice, grated, for the mash topping

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F

2. Heat a large deep frying pan with some olive oil and fry the peppers and celery over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes

3. Stir in beans, lentils and stock and mix

4. Add all the spices and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes until sauce starts to thicken and coats the beans

5. Meanwhile, boil the sweet potatoes in a large saucepan filled with water for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are soft

6. Drain the sweet potatoes and return to the saucepan and mash (for extra creaminess, at 1 tbsp of plant-based butter to the mix with a pinch of salt & pepper)

7. In a baking or pie dish, fill with the filling mix before topping with the mash (and cheese if using) and either smooth over the mash or using a fork to give the mash some shape

8. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, depending on how crispy you want the top to become

9. Meanwhile cook the peas in a small saucepan for 5 minutes and drain, cover and leave to one side until ready to serve

10. Once the pie is ready, top with fresh coriander and serve with green peas OR a fresh salad will also work well with this dish

❄️ FREEZER TIP ❄️

If you are making a large batch to freeze for future use, simply cook as instructed above and once the pie has completely cooled down, divide the pie into however many portions you would like (either in individual portions or larger) in good freezer proof containers and freeze.
Label clearly with name and date of making.
This pie will keep in the freezer for 3 months.