Lentil Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato Broccoli Mash
This is one of my favourite dishes to make on a Sunday. I do everything except bake it. That way, when I get home from work on Monday, all I have to do is throw it in the oven!
It makes enough to last up to three nights. But if you aren’t a fan of eating the same thing multiple nights in a row, you can split the pie into two dishes and freeze one before baking it, for a pre-made, ready-to-bake dinner in the future.
I "created" this recipe by combining 2 separate recipes together.
The recipe for the lentil base is from the book Vegan Cooking For Carnivores by Roberto Martin and the recipe for the "mash" is from Go With Your Gut by Robyn Youkilis.
And since I'm not a huge fan of when blogs go on and on (and on) before getting to the recipe, I'm just gonna get right to it...
Honestly, this dish is one of my favs, I really hope you enjoy it too!
RECIPE:
INGREDIENTS:
Sweet Potato Broccoli Mash
3 large sweet potatoes, chopped into small chunks
1 large head broccoli (florets only, save stems for snacking)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or grass-fed butter (use olive oil for a vegan pie, although I'm a fan of using butter, it adds such a delicious flavour! )
Lentil Base
1 cup sprouted lentils (can find these in the organics section at Loblaws or at Whole Foods)
2 tbsp virgin coconut oil (Nutiva is a good brand, can buy at Loblaws) *can also sub with olive oil
1 onion, diced small
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 celery stalks, minced
2 large carrots, diced small
1 tsp dried savoury spice
3 tbsp flour (I use sprouted spelt flour which you can find at Whole Foods but any flour will do)
1 1/2 cups veggie broth (I use Pacific Organic Brand bc it doesn’t have any added oils like a lot of other brands; you can find it at Whole Foods)
1/2 cup frozen peas
Optional Garnishes
Chopped fresh parsley and/or cilantro (both are detoxifying herbs, helping to rid the body of toxins)
Sliced toasted almonds or pine nuts
Shredded raw purple cabbage (for colour!)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place lentils in a medium pot with 2 cups filtered water. Bring water to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until water is dissolved. Drain the lentils and reserve.
While the lentils are cooking, make the sweet potato mash.
Steam the sweet potato for 10 minutes, then add the broccoli to the pot and steam for another 10 minutes, until both sweet potato and broccoli are easily pierced with a fork.
Transfer the broccoli, sweet potato, salt, and oil or butter to a food processor and pulse until well combined (stop when mostly combined and scrape down the sides, then continue).
Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat, add the oil and let it heat up a minute.
Add the diced onions and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, celery, carrot, and thyme (or spice of choice). Cook for 3 minutes more.
Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir in.
Carefully pour the broth into the pan and stir until well incorporated.
Stir in the lentils and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add the peas to the lentil mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spread the mixture evenly into an 11X7 inch baking dish and top with sweet potato broccoli mash.
Bake until completely heated through and the mash starts to brown a bit.
Enjoy!
~Tara xo
