Recipe Time

I made this Sheperd's Pie tonight and let me tell you it was goooooood. I used this stuff called Quorn mince, a vegetarian ground beef substitute. I don't know if that brand is available in the U.S., but I believe Morningstar Farms does a good version. I suppose that soaked TVP granules would work, too, but they may not have the best texture. Of course, if you're a meat eater you could use mince (ground beef). But you don't really want to do that, do you?

Vegetarian Shepard's Pie

what you need:

1 red onion, minced
2 carrots, diced
8 small mushrooms, chopped
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 package Quorn mince
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 Tbsp tamari (or regular soy sauce, if you don't have tamari)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp sugar
2 large sweet potatoes
3 potatoes (or an equal amount to the sweet potatoes)
3 medium parsnips
1 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup milk
salt and pepper

what to do:

Heat about 2 Tbsp. of olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the red onion, cook for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Then add carrot and red pepper, cook for another 5 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Add the Quorn mince and stir.
Add the can of tomatoes, stir.
Add the water, the sugar and the tamari. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure it doesn't stick or get too dry. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cut up the sweet potatoes, the regular potatoes and the parsnips into similar sized chunks. Boil a pan of water and add both kinds of potatoes. After about 10 minutes add the parsnips. Cook for a further 5 minutes or so, until all the vegetables are tender. Drain, add the butter and milk and mash. Add a little bit of salt.

Spoon the Quorn mixture into an oven proof dish. Top with the mash, spreading it out, and then flicking it up with a fork. If you were feeling crazy you could make a creative design on the top of the pie. But I'll leave that up to you. Bake for 30 minutes until the top is starting to brown. You may want to finish it under the grill/broiler to brown the top.

We had this with warm beets and a salad. The kids love it; in fact, Paddy ate more of it than I did! This made enough for two dinners for the four of us (2 adults, 2 little kids). It freezes well, too.