Lentil Cottage Pie

We are well and truly experiencing winter here. I am not a winter child, I don’t do cold, 30 seconds after I walk in the door at night I have my electric blanket on and I’m changed into my flanny pj’s, dressing gown, ugg boots and in desperate times, my beanie....

I like to be warm and snug and generally I believe there is nothing better then waking up in the morning, all cosy in your bed and looking out the window on a miserable day, it looks horrible and cold out there, but you’re all warm and snug and cosy so you don’t care....but occasionally you do need to get out of bed and get on with life so in the absence of my nice warm bed, I find there is nothing to complete that feeling like a happy belly. And in my experience a happy belly (in winter) is often related to a big bowl of something hot, something not too filling or too rich as to leave you feeling icky, just enough to leave you feeling content.....and this Lentil Cottage Pie checked all those boxes, it was tasty, healthy, vegetarian (OH even quite enjoyed it!), easy and we got 4 huge serves out of it for like 363 calories a serve....Hello new favourite winter dish!!

Lentil Cottage Pie

1 onion diced
1 stick of celery diced
1 red capsicum diced
1 carrot diced
200g button mushrooms sliced
1 cup red lentils (dry)
1 pkt brown onion and garlic gravy mix
2 tbspns tomato paste
1 tspn wet Italian herbs
1 tbspn worcestershire
80g of baby spinach leaves
600g potato peeled and diced into large chunks
100ml light sour cream
1 tbspn light butter

Pre-heat oven to 160C.

In a large frypan over medium-high heat, add your onion and cook for 3-4 mins or until it is almost transparent.

Meanwhile put your potatoes in a pot and cover with water, let them boil whilst you are preparing the pie filling.

Add the celery, capsicum, carrot, mushrooms, lentils and gravy powder. Pour over 3-4 cups of water.

Add the tomato paste, Italian herbs and Worcestershire. Stir everything to combine.

Put the lid on the fry pan and allow the mix to simmer for 10 - 15 mins, stirring occasionally. The mixture should become quite thick.

Stir the spinach leaves through the lentil mixture and take off the heat.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain the water from them and mash with the sour cream and butter.

Pour the lentil mixture into a casserole dish and top with mashed potato. Season with salt and pepper. You can also scatter with some grated cheese if desired.

Bake for 10-15 mins or until potato is golden.


Enjoy :)

This recipe is a great way to hide lentils and vegies from kids / big kids as it has a very similar texture to mince cottage pie. You could even make it with half mince / half lentils if you really wanted to keep the meat eaters in the house happy!

Hope you are all keeping warm! I have a busy day at work, then I’m going home to do some polefit for the first time in what feels like months (I miss it so much!!) and then I have 40 cupcakes to ice (all chocolate...honestly....are people trying to kill me!) before I plonk myself on the couch with a big bowl of leftover lentil cottage pie and refuse to budge for the rest of the evening....oh except to get up and make some waffles with caramelised pineapple and cream, but more on those later in the week!!

Happy Wednesday!!

Em x