Lentil Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato Crust
By Ksenia Prints of At The Immigrant’s Table
This Lentil Shepherd's Pie is topped with fluffy sweet potatoes and stuffed with a delicious and hearty mixture of lentils, mushrooms and thyme in sauce.
The holidays can be a difficult time if you are maintaining a plant-based diet. If you are lucky, friends and family are ready to embrace you with open arms, with dairy-free pumpkin pie and scrumptious veggie sides. But for many of us, the haunt for a filling, festive and beautiful vegan holiday main is a real struggle! To solve the problem, we’ve created this Lentil Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato Topping that every diner would love, whether they are vegan or not.
Traditionally, Shepherd’s Pie is a dish made up of ground meat, mixed with cooked root vegetables like carrots, peas and onion, and topped with mashed potatoes. It can feel stodgy, and oftentimes be made out of uninspiring, semi-frozen ingredients.
Not so with this lentil and mushroom shepherd’s pie! First, we start by sauteing some fragrant aromatics - onion, garlic and bay leaf - to which we add some lentils. You can go with green or brown lentils, or splurge for French de Puy lentils for the perfect texture!
Once our lentils are cooked, we add even more flavor with mushrooms, perky red wine vinegar and thyme. The resulting lentil mushroom stew is thick, delicious and stick-to-your-ribs filling!
And to make it all better and more festive, we top the whole mess with mashed sweet potatoes, mixed with fragrant coconut oil or vegan butter. The resulting shepherd’s pie is a celebration of textures, flavors and colors, a pure fall and winter indulgence you’d love to eat any day.
Make this vegan shepherd’s pie for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any celebration when you need a big, beautiful vegetarian main that is also gluten-free. Pair it with a refreshing salad and a slice of pumpkin pie for dessert, and your taste buds will thank you - along with all other vegetarians at the table!
Lentil Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato Crust
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
For Sweet Potato topping:
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
3-4 tbsp. vegan butter or coconut oil
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
For Lentil Shepherd’s Pie filling:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 cup lentils, rinsed
2 tbsp. fresh thyme
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp. Tamari or soy sauce
1 lb. cremini or white button mushrooms, quartered
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
½ tsp. cayenne pepper or chilli flakes
2 tsp. cornstarch powder
1 tbsp. cold filtered water
1 tsp. salt, and more, to taste
½ tsp. pepper, and more, to taste
Fresh sprigs of thyme, optional
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Prep and butter a 9X13 casserole dish, or a few individual ramekins or casserole dishes.
To cook sweet potatoes, place the diced sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover them with water. Bring sweet potatoes to a low boil. Salt generously, cover with a lid and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes.
Once the sweet potatoes are soft enough to pierce with a fork, drain the water. Using a potato masher, mash the sweet potatoes until you attain a smooth puree. Add vegan butter or coconut oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Taste and correct seasoning as needed - this sweet potato topping should taste delicious on its own. Set aside.
Set a large pot or Dutch oven on medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and diced onion. Saute onion until softened, about 2-3 minutes.
Add garlic, thyme, and chili flakes and saute for another minute.
Add lentils and bay leaf, vegetable broth and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer lentils until they are tender, about 20 minutes.
While the lentils are cooking, mix together cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl. Add the cornstarch mixture of the pot with the lentils.
Increase the heat to medium and add mushrooms. Saute about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper to the pan.
Cook lentil mixture for 10-12 minutes, stirring often, until it has reduced and thickened.
Transfer the lentil and mushroom mixture to the prepared casserole dish, or to individual dishes. Top with sweet potato mash, and smooth it out with an offset spatula. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
Transfer lentil shepherd’s pie onto a baking sheet. Bake the pies at a 400 F, until the filling is bubbling and the sweet potato topping is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
Serve lentil shepherd’s pie with sweet potato topping drizzled with more olive oil, and topped with fresh sprigs of thyme.
