Lentil and Mushroom Shepherd's Pie

By vdub

Ingredients

• Bottom Layer:
• 6 cups cooked Green Lentils
• 2 cooking Onions, or 1 large Sweet Onion – chopped
• 3 Celery stalks – sliced lengthwise and sliced
• 2 Garlic cloves – minced
• 680 gms (24 ozs) Mushrooms, est. 4 cups
• 2 cups packed Spinach
• 1 Tbsp Onion powder
• 1 Tbsp Basil
• 2 tsp Smoked Paprika
• 2 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Turmeric
• 1 tsp Cumin
• Middle Layer:
• 4 to 5 Carrots – peeled and diced
• 1 1/2 cups Corn kernels
• Top Layer:
• 1 Sweet Potato
• 5 to 6 White Potatoes
• 2 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp Onion powder
• 1 tsp Smoked paprika
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup Almond Milk, enough to make smooth and creamy, yet stay thick when mashing

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from robinskey.com

Preparation

Step 1

Cook the lentils.

Peel and chop the potatoes and cover with water in a pot and boil until the potatoes are soft, about a half hour.

Boil the cubed carrots until they just start to get soft. When they are at this stage add the corn to just warm it, or defrost if using frozen kernels, and drain. Set aside until ready to layer.

Meanwhile sauté the onions, celery and garlic in olive oil. When the onions are starting to soften add the mushrooms and spices and continue frying until mushrooms are soft. Remove from heat. Transfer two thirds of the mushroom mixture along with the lentils to a food processor and process until they are half broken down. This gives them a meaty texture. It is best to do this in stages and not add too much into the processor at once. Add a little of each the mushroom and lentils and process, remove and add more until all the lentils are used and most of the mushroom mixture. When the processing is finished mix this mixture back in the pan with the remaining unprocessed mushrooms and the spinach. It may be hot enough to start wilting the spinach, but if it doesn’t it will when the casserole is heated in the oven.

When potatoes are soft, mash them with almond milk, nutritional yeast and spices. Now we are ready to assemble the Shepherd’s Pie.

Place the mushroom-lentil layer in the bottom of the casserole dish and spread out so it is even. Layer with corn and carrots and then top with mashed potato layer.

Set the casserole in the oven to heat at 350 degrees F for at least 30 minutes and then it is ready to serve.