Lentil Shepherds Pie

At first when Josh told me his rating of this I told him I was going to scrap the Josh rating system, but then I remembered that he does not like Shepherds Pie made with meat either, so I tried not to take it personally. I dropped some off for Dad and Sara's family to try too and they liked it.

Prep Time: 30 minutes + optional soaking time (see below)
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4
Josh Rating: 0 out of 5

8 potatoes
1/4 cup milk
40 g butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes
2 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbs tomato paste
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
2/3 cup lentils
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 cup peas
1/3 cup parsley, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 220 C (425 F). Boil potatoes until tender, drain. Mash in a large bowl with milk and half of butter.

Melt the remaining butter in a medium pan; cook onion and garlic, stirring, until onion softens. Add undrained tomatoes, stock, paste, red wine vinegar, lentils and carrot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add peas and parsley, cook 5 minutes. Spoon lentil mixture into a baking dish. The lentil mixture will have a lot of liquid. Spread potatoes on top. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Stand pie 10 minutes before serving.

Note on lentils: when I made this I did not pre-soak or pre-boil the lentils but I was concerned that they would not be soft so I simmered the lentil mixture for longer than 15 minutes. I think this cooked too much liquid out of it and it was a little dry in the Shepherds Pie. Next time I will pre-soak or even pre-boil the lentils for 20 minutes to make sure they are soft (but not mushy) and stick to the 15 minutes simmering time to make sure the Shepherds Pie is nice and moist.

Recipe from: Women's Weekly Vegie Main Meals