Green Monday recipe – Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

In general, I’m a capable cook – I have a few people pleasing specialties, but mostly I need to carefully follow recipes and instructions and hope to achieve fair to good results. My housemate, Eric, is a natural chef. He has a rhythm and innate understanding of cooking that I can’t pick up from a cookbook. I’ve always admired how he can whip up something yummy using a recipe as only a guide (or even without a recipe at all!), substituting and adding ingredients we have on hand with total confidence. What’s great about today’s recipe for Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie is that you can achieve that go-with-the-flow spirit.

I made my first Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie with a recipe from my very first cookbook, Linda Mccartney’s Home Cooking. Over 15 years later, I still own my hardback copy and reach for it over and over again. I highly recommend it for novice and expert veggie chefs looking for satisfying, even hearty, family meals.

While I couldn’t find Linda’s exact recipe online (from page 120 of the hardback), this version from The Vegetarian Society is very similar. The beauty of it all is that an exact recipe isn’t needed! Feel free to use any leftover vegetables you have in the fridge (fresh broccoli, cauliflower, even tomatoes have gone into my creations) and your favorite spices. It’s up to you -and what’s in your kitchen.

Use this basic Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie as your guide, and feel free to improvise at will!

• 1 1/2 lb potatoes, peeled
• 3 oz margarine or butter
• 1-2 tablespoons skimmed or soy milk
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced thinly
• 8 oz vegetarian mince/tvp hamburger mix or crumbled veggie burger patties
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1/2 pint vegetable stock

1. Cook the potatoes in boiling water for 20 minutes or until quite soft, then drain well and mash them with 2 oz of the margarine/butter and enough milk to make a firm but smooth consistency. Season to taste.

2. Melt the remaining margarine/butter in a frying pan and add the onion and carrots. Cover with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes or until soft, stirring occasionally. Add the burger tvp, light soy sauce and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and simmer gently, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and any spices of your choice.

3. Put the mince mixture into a baking dish and cover with the mashed potatoes. Bake at 400F for 30 minutes or until the potato topping is well browned.

As you can see from Eric’s version in the photo above, we think Shepherd’s Pie must have peas. Fresh ones, if you can swing it. I’ve switched out the peas for corn or soybeans on occasion. We also added some Worcester Sauce to the tvp while it simmered for some oomph. Finally, Eric also added some flour at the same time for a thicker consistency (a tip picked up watching the Food Network).

Filed in: do-gooders, eat, drink, be merry, green monday, recipes

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