Winter Squash, Root Vegetable, Lentil & Mung Bean Shepherd's Pie
This winter squash (pumpkin), vegetable, lentil, and mung bean shepherd's pie is just right for cozy winter evenings. With lots of seasonal vegetables and plenty of protein, it's a bit of work but well worth it in the end.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Vegan
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour20 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour40 minutesminutes
Servings 6people
Ingredients
Topping
1smallish winter squash*about 2 cups cooked with seeds removed
1large sweet potato or two smallish ones
¼cupunsweetened almond milk
1tablespooncoconut oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Pulses
½cupdried Frenchgreen lentils
½cupmung beans
3cupsvegetable stock
Vegetable layer
1large onion
2largish carrotsI used five little ones
2parsnipsI don't know, aren't they all about the same size?
1roma-type tomato
2cupskale
1cupmushrooms
3clovesgarlic
1cupvegetable stock
1tablespoonarrowroot powder
1teaspoonDijon mustard
1tablespoonbalsamic vinegar
1teaspoonmaple syrup
Salt and pepper to taste. A little cayenne doesn't hurt.
Instructions
Topping
Cut your roots in half, place face down on a greased pan, and bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork. Scoop the flesh out, toss it in a bowl, and mash it all together with the almond milk, coconut oil, salt, and pepper. Leave it to the side while you prep the other stuff.
Pulses
Rinse the pulses and throw them into a medium sized pot. Add the vegetable stock and remove and mung beans that float to the top. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for thirty minutes. While that's cooking, you can prep your veggies.
After thirty minutes, just about all the liquid should be absorbed. Turn off the heat and leave the lid on until everything else is ready.
Vegetable layer
Chop everything fairly roughly. You want some texture, and it's going to be baked anyway, so don't worry too much about even cooking. Add the onion first, then the carrots and parsnips, then the tomato, and then the kale, mushrooms, and garlic.
Cook each until just tender, but certainly not mushy. Add the balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan, then season with the mustard, maple syrup, salt, and pepper.
Stir the pulses into the vegetable mixture, then heat the vegetable stock and then whisk in the arrowroot powder. Pour this mixture into the pan with the cooked vegetables and pulses and stir it all up. I don't have a picture of the gravy stuff. It doesn't look that great, but don't worry about it.
Okay. Now you're ready to start assembling the pie. You want base, vegetable filling, a cup of frozen peas, and then the squash topping. After assembling, bake at 400F for about twenty minutes or until turning golden and bubbling up around the edges.
Notes
Avoid really sweet squashes like butternut for this recipe. I used a buttercup, but something like acorn would be good too. Don't use spaghetti squash!