Vegetarian Cottage Pie With Garlic Butter Sweet Potato Mash

Name: Vegetarian Cottage Pie With Garlic Butter Sweet Potato Mash
Yield: 6 people
Ingredients: 50 g (1.75 oz) Clover original butter; 1 large onion (finely chopped); 1 leek (finely chopped); 2 large carrots (cut into small dice); 2 fat garlic cloves (crushed); 1 tsp dried thyme; 200 g (7 oz) mushrooms, finely chopped; 150 ml (2/3 cup) red wine; 1 400 g tin chopped tomatoes; 1 400 g tin green or puy lentils (drained); 1 vegetable stock cube; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tsp sugar; salt and pepper; 1.5 kg (3.3 pounds) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks; 50 g (1.75 oz) Clover original; 4 fat garlic cloves (crushed); 75 g (2.75 oz) mature cheddar, grated

November 9, 2015 by hannahhossack 24 Comments

Vegetarian cottage pie (or shepherds pie, either name works seeing as there is no meat in it to distinguish between them) is a meal that I make fairly regularly as it is so simple, hearty and healthy. Lentils make a great (and very healthy) replacement for meat in a lot of recipes, particularly in warming Winter ones such as stews and pies; and I always have a stash of several different varieties in the cupboard. Although I often cook with dried lentils, they can take a while to cook and some varieties need to be soaked overnight before you can cook them so I also keep tins of pre-cooked lentils for when I want to make something a little more low-effort. I used a tin of lentils in this cottage pie, they really help to bulk it out and make it far more filling than it would be if just made with veg.

The cottage pie is made even healthier by replacing the mashed potatoes in the topping with sweet potatoes, so it is packed full of vegetables and has plenty of protein from the lentils and cheese. It isn’t just healthy though, this pie is really tasty; I always use red wine in the sauce as it adds so much flavour, don’t omit it! The alcohol gets cooked off and it doesn’t taste strongly of wine so it is still fine to serve to children. The mash is flavoured with garlic butter, it is so simple to make but seriously good! I like to sprinkle some grated mature cheddar cheese over the top of the pie before I pop it in the oven, this is optional but I would never want to go without, the more cheese the better in my opinion.

I used Clover original spread in place of butter in this recipe – it is made with buttermilk, contains half the saturated fat of butter and no artificial ingredients, which means it is great for everyday family use. Clover are currently running a competition on their Facebook page where you can win a pair of oven gloves and personalised fridge magnets, all you have to do is upload a photo of a family meal cooked with Clover.

The cottage pie can be baked in one large dish, or in about six small ones to make individual pies; it can even be prepared in advance then refrigerated for a couple of days before you bake it, and it freezes really well too; it is very handy to have some in the freezer for days when you don’t have time (or can’t be bothered) to cook. This is essentially a meal in one and needs nothing else, though I do like to serve it with some peas or broccoli (or both) for a bit of greenery.