(Jamie Oliver’s) Vegan shepherd’s pie

8 portions + Maximum cost: £20 for all ingredients, (includes a £9 bottle of wine)

Skill level: Medium (lots of chopping), 

Total cooking time: 1 hour 45 minutes,

• Prep time: 30 minutes, 
• Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes,

Equipment used: 2 deep casserole style dishes, 1 food processor, 2 pie dishes, pestle & mortar, food processor.

Original recipe: Jamie Oliver’s Vegan shepherd’s pie

I’m not a vegan, however I do appreciate the benefits of avoiding meat and dairy – (It is the food equivalent of the holy trinity)  – good for your body; good for  the environment and good for your bank balance. Hurrah!

The original recipe serves 8 people and I use 2 casserole pots and 2 pie dishes rather than cramming everything into one (just roughly roughly add half to each) You can also freeze the second pie.

If you do however want to halve it, there is no need to be precious about exact measurements, for example, chestnut mushrooms are usually served in punnets weighing 350g – you may as well add all to the dish. Likewise, if you don’t want half an onion floating around, throw the whole thing in.

Looking at the list of ingredients, it’s easy to see why this will taste good. Serve simply with some garden peas and enjoy!

To prep:

(Original recipe in bold font)

• Chop 600g (3 or 4) Maris Piper potatoes into rough 2cm chunks. (The original recipe says to peel, but I just remove any nasty eyes).
• Peel and chop 600g (3) sweet potatoes into the same size cubes
• Peel and finely slice 1 onion, 2 carrots and 4 garlic cloves, then trim and finely slice 3 sticks of celery – set aside. (I’ve increased garlic and celery quantities in comparison to the original) 
• Roughly chop 2 punnets of  mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes (reserving some of the oil) – set aside
• Prepare breadcrumbs by adding a bread roll to the food processor and blitzing – you can add the garlic clove to this as well.
• Finely chop rosemary, (add thyme and oregano if you fancy)
• Zest 1 lemon

To cook:

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.

Place the Maris Pipers into a large pan of cold salted water over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until tender, adding the sweet potatoes after 5 minutes.

Drain and leave to steam dry, then return to the pan with the margarine and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Mash until smooth, then set aside.

Peel and finely slice the onion, carrots and 2 garlic cloves, then trim and finely slice the celery.

Bash 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar until fine, then add it all to a medium pan over a medium heat with a good splash of oil. Pick in a small handful of thyme leaves, then cook for around 10 minutes, or until softened.

Add the mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes to the pan along with 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the sun-dried tomato oil from the jar.

Cook for a further 10 minutes, then add a (generous) splash of wine, turn up the heat, and allow it to bubble away. Stir in 100ml of vegetable stock, 1 can of lentils and 1 can of chickpeas (juice and all), then leave it to tick away for 5 to 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened and reduced.

Pick and roughly chop the parsley leaves (I use half of the small 35g packets, approximately 20g) then stir into the pan.

Season to taste, then transfer to a baking dish (roughly 25cm x 30cm).

Spread the mash over the top, scuffing it up with the back of a spoon.

To the breadcrumbs add; 1 diced garlic clove (or throw it in the food processor with the breadcrumbs), lemon zest, rosemary leaves and 1 tablespoon of oil – If you’re not actually vegan, I’d recommend substituting the garlic for an anchovy and a drizzle of anchovy oil – a handy type from Jamie outlined in his herb crusted cod recipe.

Mix well, sprinkle over the mash, then place in the hot oven for around 10 minutes, or until piping hot through.

Place under the grill for a further 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden, then serve with seasonal greens.

Ingredients:

• 600g Maris Piper potatoes (I used 4 medium sized potatoes £1)
• 600g sweet potatoes (I used 4 medium to large potatoes, £2)
• 40g dairy-free margarine (I used butter)
• 1 onion (20p)
• 2 carrots (20p)
• 5 cloves of garlic (50p for a bulb)
• 3 sticks of celery (£1 for a bunch)
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• olive oil
• ½ a bunch of fresh thyme
• 2 punnets of chestnut mushrooms (£2)
• 15 sun-dried tomatoes (£2)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• vegan red wine (I used a decent rioja, £9)
• 100 ml organic vegetable stock
• 1 x 400 g tin of lentils (50p)
• 1 x 400 g tin of chickpeas (50p)
• 5 sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley (50p)
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 1 lemon , zest of (30p)
• 30 g fresh breadcrumbs (I used a bread roll, 35p)