Shepherdess Pie

As the weather finally starts to feel a tad autumnal, my cooking turns toward the hearty and comforting. 

On a cool and rainy easter sunday, There was basically two choices. Pie or Pie.

I mean, who doesn't love the smell of pies baking? (Except of course, my oven is busted and the landlord might fix it, oh, sometime-in-the-next-millenium which means I have to bake it across the road at Mum's thereby missing the whole 'who does't love the smell of pies baking?' point, but ANYWAY...)

I decided on the all-time bloke-favourite, The Shepherd's Pie.

Except it isn't. The actualities of the pie proper are reasonably complicated and involve cottages, re-naming, some hoo-ha about beef vs lamb (shepherds don't herd cattle) and then the slightly important fact that my version uses neither beef, nor lamb and is therefore (apparently) a Shepherdess's Pie ( the logic being that girl shepherds don't eat beef or lamb?....ANYWAY...)

My version has also been a 'Cumberland Pie (with a layer of breadcrumbs on top), may have been a pastel de papa if I happened to live in Chile or Uraguay, a hachis Parmentier if I were french, or Kibbet Batata if I happened to be cooking in Syria...in autumn. My favourite though is the Finland's version is "lihaperunasoselaatikko". I'd probably call it that if I could pronounce it.

I ruin things further by adding grated cheese on top of the potato, making it a shepherdess/milkmaid pie? Maybe it's just a 'female rural employee' pie? I think ...

Recipe

1 can lentils, drained

1 1/2 cups dried TVP, re-hydrated in vegetable stock

1 large onion, diced

3 sticks celery, finely diced

2 medium carrots, finely diced

1 small tin tomato paste

2 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp dried sage

a small handful fresh oregano

2 tbsp gravy mix (I use brown onion)

1/3 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup BBQ sauce

1 tbsp chipotle sauce

3 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp VEGETA

4 large floury potatoes

100g salted butter

1/2 cup hot soy milk

100g grated tasty cheese

2 tsp smoky paprika

1. Fry off veges in a little EVOO til tender and fragrant

2. Add everything else and a cup of water and let that bastard simmer until all the flavours are rich and blended

3. Make your mash and spoon it on top.

4. Top with grated cheese and smoky paprike

5. Bake for 1hr at 180.

I'm having an internal war over whether to serve it with salad, or more autumnally with maple and walnut roasted carrots and parsnips, and some minted peas....

By the way, the autumnal sides won the day...and how little Gabriel LOVES his maple-roasted carrots!