Comfort food doesn’t come much cleaner or better for you than this Lentil Shepherd’s Pie. You don’t need fatty mince or stodgy mashed spuds…and it was even a hit with The Husband who normally turns his nose up at anything that is vegetarian.
Lentil Shepherd’s Pie
Here’s what you’ll need…
1/2 cup brown lentils
2 onions (1 whole, 1 chopped)
1 bay leaf
500g cauliflower broken into florets
1/3 cup low-kilojoule ricotta
Olive oil spray
1 large carrot, diced
150g mixed mushrooms, halved if large.
1 garlic clove, crushed
400g can diced tomatoes
Freshly ground pepper.
1/3 cup parmesan
400g steamed broccoli
This is what you do…
Place lentils, whole onion and bay leaf in saucepan. Cover with 2 cups of water, bring to the boil and simmer for 40 minutes or until lentils are tender. Drain. Discard onion and bay lead.
Meanwhile, steam cauliflower for 15 minutes or until very soft. Transfer to a bowl and mash with ricotta to make a corse puree.
Lightly spray a frying pan with oil. Cook chopped onion, carrot, mushrooms and garlic for 8 minutes, stirring, until softened and golden. Stir in tomatoes, lentils and 1/4 cup water. Season with pepper, then spoon mixture into ovenproof dish. Top with cauliflower mash and parmesan.
Bake for 30 minutes until the cheese is golden. Serve with broccoli.
Serves 4.
