Cottage Pie – Vegan MoFo Day 9

I wasn’t too sure what to do as a “retro recipe” (today’s prompt) because, what classes as retro? Google brings up a lot of recipes that I don’t really fancy making – prawn cocktails, jello salads? No thank you. But apparently, cottage pie is also classed as a retro recipe – and since it’s super tasty, I decided to go with that!

There’s always some debate over what to call this, is it cottage pie, is it shepherd’s pie? When I was at school, in cookery class, the vegetarians made “shepherdess pie”, which I’m not so keen on, because why should a vegetarian pie be more feminine? I’m sure shepherds and shepherdesses alike would do quite well on this vegan version. Anyway, in the end I went with cottage pie, as it seems to be the oldest name for it.

I used a mixture of lentils and soya mince for the mincey filling, and also carrots and chopped tomatoes. My secret ingredient in all veggie “mince”? Marmite! Even if you don’t like marmite, it’s only a small amount and it really brings a savoury flavour to the dish.

Cottage Pie

• Servings: 3-4
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Ingredients

for the filling
• 100g brown lentils
• 1 tsp stock powder
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 200g frozen soya mince
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 tsp marmite

for the potatoes

• 3 medium potatoes, about 400g
• 1 tbsp vegan butter
splash milk
• 1/2 tsp English mustard
• Salt & Pepper

Directions

(Preheat the oven to 200C/390F)
1. In a saucepan, mix the lentils and the stock powder. Cover with boiling water and cook for 25-30 minutes, until tender.
2. Chop the potatoes into medium pieces and boil until starting to fall apart. Drain, and put back in the saucepan.
3. Add the butter, mustard, milk, and seasoning to the potatoes, mix, and mash with a potato masher. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile, in a frying pan, fry the onion, garlic, and carrot, until the onions are soft.
5. Add the herbs and marmite, soya mince, and chopped tomatoes and mix well.
6. Drain the lentils and add to the filling mix. Add extra water if needed.
7. Cook for 15 minutes on the stove top until the mince is cooked.
8. Into an ovenproof dish, pour the filling mix. Leave enough space at the top of the dish for the potatoes.
9. Smooth the potatoes over the filling and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until going golden on top.
10. Serve with peas for a traditional feel!