Allotment Cottage Pie
- Time
- Serves 6-8
- Challenge
Veggies, mashed potatoes. This dish is seriously hearty. Great to present as you can put the casserole dish in the middle of the table and just let everyone serve themselves.
Ingredients
- 2 large leeks
- 3 carrots
- 500g sweet potato
- 500g butternut squash or pumpkin
- 200 - 400g mixed wild or chestnut mushrooms
- olive oil
- 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2kg potatoes
- 40g unsalted butter
- 1 splash of oat milk
- 2 teaspoons of powdered vegetable stock
- 1 onion
- 3 tablespoons tomato purée
- 400g tin of green lentils
Method
- Trim, wash, and slice the leeks 2cm thick. Then scrub the carrots, sweet potato, and butternut squash, chopping to roughly the same size. Half or quarter the larger mushrooms.
- Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into a large casserole pan on a medium heat, add stripped rosemary leaves, fry for 1 minute to crisp up, then remove and save for later. Add the cumin seeds and prepped veg to the flavoured oil, season, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Meanwhile, peel and roughly chop the potatoes, cook in a pan of boiling, well salted water for 15 minutes, or until tender, then drain well. Mash with the butter, milk, and powdered vegetable stock. Season to taste.
- With a blender, blend the onion and tomato puree together.
- Pour into the veg pan and cook over a medium heat for 20 minutes, or until dark, caramelised, and flavourful. Stir regularly, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
- Meanwhile preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Tip the lentils (liquid and all) into the veg pan, bring to the boil, then season. Using two tablespoons, cover with the mash, place on a tray (to catch anything that boils out and over), bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly golden and bubbling at the edges, then sprinkle over the crispy rosemary.
Serve with simple steamed seasonal greens. Tuck in!