Vegetarian Shepherdsless Pie

A deep, robust and flavorful Vegetarian pie made with roasted sweet potatoes, deep caramelized onions, mushrooms, carrots, peas and lentils in a tomato based savory gravy topped with mashed potatoes!

This vegetarian shepherds’less’ pie is going to blow your doors off !  I knew it was going to be one of my best dishes just by the smell of it.  It is nothing short of outstanding and I don’t say that often!

We all know what Shepherds Pie is.   It is browned meat and cooked veggies swimming in a dark sauce so rich and decadent it makes your hair stand on end.  It is then topped with tender mashed potatoes and baked until nicely browned.

But can we duplicate this masterpiece WITHOUT meat?  That was my challenge.

In order for this dish to be as deeply flavored as one with meat I had to do 3 things:

1.  Incorporate a meat substitute.  I decided on lentils.  The best lentils to use as a beef substitute are brown and green, as they have a milder flavor than red lentils, which means they are more willing to soak up different flavors.
2.  Bring out the flavors of the vegetables.  In order to do this, the sweet potato needs to be roasted to maximize its caramelization and the onions were slowly sautéed until they too were a deep golden brown.
3. Create a full bodied gravy.  An important step that is often overlooked when cooking with tomato paste is not allowing it to brown.  By letting tomato paste “brown” in the pan, and sautéing it with spices, you can boost the flavor of your dish in a big way.  As it cooks a few minutes more you will see it darken in color and thicken.

TIPS IN MAKING VEGETARIAN PIE

We want to start with the items that will take us the longest, which are the sweet potatoes, the lentils and the onions, which can all be cooked at the same time.

1. Start by cooking the lentils in a small saucepan over medium heat.  This can take upwards of 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, get the sweet potatoes in the oven and roast them until you can insert a knife through it easily (10-15 min).  Lastly, get those onions going over a low heat.  We want a deep flavor, so again, take you time as this can also take 20 minutes or more.
2. Once the onions are done, toss in some mushrooms and cook them down.
3. Now we need to add some liquid and flavor which is comprised of tomato paste, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and aromatics like garlic, thyme, cumin and cinnamon.
4. At this time, the lentils and sweet potato should be done.  They join the party, along with 1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables and a can of diced tomatoes.
5. This deep, rich, full bodied vegetable pie is not complete with a whallop of mashed potatoes on top!

A nice trick is to run the tines of your fork over the mashed potatoes and then drizzle it very lightly with olive oil and place them under the broiler for a few minutes until they get all golden brown.

Lentils are a legume from the bean family and are FULL of fiber. Because of this, I recommend soaking your lentils for at least a few hours to remove the outer covering of anti-nutrients. It’s these compounds that can cause gas and bloating.

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