Monday morning I made a big batch of lentils – meaning I dumped an entire bag of brown lentils in the rice cooker and added four cups of vegetable broth, a couple of bay leaves and half cup of water before cooking them on the brown rice setting for about 35 minutes. The plan? Dave was going to make a pasta dinner – whole wheat spaghetti and sauce packed with lentils, mushrooms, onion and green pepper. He made us an awesome spaghetti dinner Monday night. He just forgot to add the lentils!
I bagged up half of the cooked lentils and stored them in the freezer. I spied a bowl of fingerling potatoes on the counter – nearing the use-it-or-lose-it phase – and decided I would come up with a simple vegan version of Shepherd’s Pie.
I have posted about making mashed potatoes in the pressure cooker a few times and even made a video on it. It’s my go-to for quick and easy mashed potatoes. This time, to add a bit of a twist to a traditional Shepherd’s Pie (well, there are a whole lot of twists, I suppose, because there’s no lamb in this dish!) I added carrots to the potatoes. I used just over four cups of cubed fingerling potatoes, 2 cups of baby carrots, 2 tablespoons of roughly diced garlic and about 1 and 1/2 cups of water and cooked at pressure for six minutes, followed by a quick release. I hand mashed the potatoes and carrots, added about a teaspoon of sea salt and a tablespoon of vegan butter, mashed again and set aside.
Having never made a Shepherd’s pie, vegan or other, I wasn’t entirely sure what kind of consistency the “meaty” bottom layer should have. It seemed like I’d want it to stick together a bit, but….?
So I just started sauteing things in the skillet. I started with olive oil and then added garlic, onion and celery (oh, my, that smells so good!). Then I added about four cups of loosely packed kale, chopped. I scooped in about 3 cups of cooked lentils. I seasoned it with vegan Worcestershire sauce (yes, vegan, because traditional Worcestershire contains anchovies!), rosemary and thyme (both in seed form, I used my mortar and pestle to grind it). Then I decided I might want something creamy in the mix so I poured 1/4 cup of creamy mushroom soup into the skillet. I let this mix simmer for about five minutes before transferring to a casserole dish and spreading a yummy layer of mashed carrots and potatoes on top. I added fresh ground pepper
and baked for 30 minutes on 350.
This happened:
A huge hit with the omnivore husband! A huge hit with me!
Next time I might add cooked quinoa to the lentil mix for a bit more binding. And there will be a next time.
And now the plated result…
…and recipe!
Lentil and Kale Shepherd’s Pie
by
Keywords: bake, pressure cooker, entrée, vegan, lentils
Ingredients (Serves 6 – 8)
For the potatoes
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 4 cups quartered fingerling potatoes
- 2 cups baby carrots
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
For the filling
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic (yes, more garlic!)
- 3/4 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 3 cups cooked lentils
- 1 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground rosemary
- 1 teaspoon ground thyme
- 4 cups loosely packed kale (chopped or shredded)
- 1/4 cup creamy vegan mushroom soup
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F
For the potatoes (pressure cooker instructions)
Bring water to a boil in the uncovered pressure oooker.
Add garlic potatoes, and carrots.
Cover and lock the pressure lid and bring to pressure.
Cook at pressure for 6 minutes.
Use the quick release method (hold the covered pressure cooker under running water).
Remove the lid, opening away from you.
Add salt and vegan butter and mash with a hand masher.
Set aside
For the filling
Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high.
Saute garlic, onion and celery for about minute.
Add cooked lentils, continuing to saute.
Add Worcestershire sauce, rosemary and thyme, mixing well.
Add kale and mushroom soup and let simmer on medium-low for about five minutes.
Bringing it all together
Pour the lentil and kale filing into a baking or casserole dish
Spread the mashed carrots and potatoes over the top of the filling.
Add fresh ground pepper.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Let the Shepherd’s Pie set on the counter for about five minutes before serving.
8 thoughts on “Vegan Shepherd’s Pie, Starring Lentils and Kale”
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That looks amazing. Perfect for this time of year!
Thank you, @ae4cfc03377063b49ead8410443088f6:disqus !
This is the perfect recipe for fall!
Agreed, @StellaAdore:disqus! Warm comfort food!
Can you tell me the size or ounces of the bag of lentils? Can’t wait to make them in my rice cooker.
Lentils are so good in the rice cooker, @lindalauder:disqus! I don’t recall the size of bag but I can tell you that my intention was too cook 2 cups of lentils. Once I poured out 2 cups I realized there was only another 1/4 cup or so of lentils in the bag so I just cooked the entire bag. Hope that helps!
I’m assuming in the fourth last line of instructions for the recipe you mean filling, not killing. This is vegan cooking, I sure hope I won’t kill anything making this recipe!
Your assumption is correct, @wendymoniuk:disqus. Thanks for the head’s up. Edited!