Recipe // Holiday Vegan Shephard's Pie

Ingredients

Filling:
→ 1 tablespoon olive oil
→ 1 yellow onion, diced
→ 2 cloves of garlic, minced
→ 1 sprig of rosemary, leaves minced
→ 4 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed and divided
→ Pinch of chili flakes, optional
→ 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
→ 5 cups-worth of small diced root or tuber vegetables or squash (acorn squash, carrots & beets used here)
→ ⅓ cup black or french lentils, rinsed
→ 4 tablespoons of vegetable broth powder + 2 ½ cups water to make 2 ½ cups vegetable stock
→ 1 teaspoon tamari soy sauce
→ Sea salt, to taste
→ Ground black pepper, to taste
→ 2 teaspoons cornstarch
→ 1 tablespoon cold filtered water

Topping (for a 9 inch pie dish):
→ 1 ½ cup potato flakes + 2 ½ cups water to make 5 cups mashed potatoes
→ 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
→ 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, plus extra

Directions:

→ For the filling, heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the minced garlic, rosemary, thyme, and chili flakes to the pot and stir. Sauté until the garlic is fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir. Add the 5 cups of diced vegetables and the lentils to the pot and stir to coat in the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté another 2 minutes, stirring often.

→ Add the vegetable stock and tamari and stir. The liquid should just cover all the vegetables and lentils. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer until the vegetables are tender and the lentils are soft, about 45 minutes. Cover the pot with the lid slightly tilted so steam can escape.

→ When the filling is done, in a small bowl mix together the cornstarch and cold water. Scrape this slurry into the pot with the filling and stir to mix it in. Remove the pot from the heat.

→ For the mashed potatoes, add 2 ½ cups water to a saucepan and bring to just below boiling. Add potato flakes and whisk slowly until mixed and let sit for one minute.

→ Add the olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper and blend with an immersion blender until creamy. Season to taste.

→ Preheat the oven to 400°F. Add the filling to a ceramic pie dish and then add the mashed potato topping, smoothing it out with a butter knife or spatula. Drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme leaves. Bake until the filling is bubbling and the tops are light brown, about 20 minutes.