Vegetable Shepherds Pie

Transform your frozen or leftover veggies into a simple and wholesome dinner for the family. Packed with the goodness of gut-healthy ingredients like sweet potato and lentils, this vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie is budget-friendly and easy to prepare in advance too.

Dinner
15 min prep
60 min cook
8 serves
4 serves of veg
  • 1.5kg sweet potato, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red onion, sliced
  • 1 leek, sliced
  • 1 stalk celery, sliced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 1 cup dry red or brown lentils, rinsed*
  • 1 cup water
  • 1.5 cups vegetable stock*
  • 425g can chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste, no added salt
  • 1 tsp reduced salt soy sauce*
  • ½ cup frozen peas
  • ½ cup frozen corn kernels
  • ½ cup parsley, chopped
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • ½ cup parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds

 

*For gluten free: check the products are ‘gluten free’.

  1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
  2. Steam the sweet potato for 20 minutes or until tender. Mash to preferred consistency and season to taste.
  3. While the sweet potato is steaming, heat oil in large frypan and add onion, leek, carrot and celery. Cook until onion is soft.
  4. Add the lentils, water, stock, tomato paste, tomatoes, soy sauce and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for a further 10 minutes until thick. Stir through peas, corn and parsley and season with pepper to taste.
  5. Place the vegetable and lentil mix into an ovenproof dish and cover with the mashed sweet potato. Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese and sesame seeds and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Serving Suggestion: You can substitute the lentils for canned lentils. Make sure to drain and rinse the lentils. If using canned lentils, omit the 1 cup of water in step 4, as they are already cooked and won’t absorb as much liquid as dried lentils.

Vegetables can also be swapped for other vegetables you may have on hand such as cauliflower, zucchini, capsicum, pumpkin or spinach.

Storage: This pie is suitable for freezing. For the best quality, cover and freeze the assembled (but unbaked) pie for up to 3 months. Leftovers can also be frozen for lunches.

Kids in the kitchen tips: Depending on your child’s age and skill, they can help with mashing the sweet potato (being careful as it will be hot), spreading the sweet potato over the pie mix or sprinkling the parmesan and sesame seeds on the top.

Important

When preparing this recipe:

  • Double check the food label ingredient list for any allergens each time you purchase it.
  • Prevent any allergen contamination during preparation, cooking, and serving with proper hygiene and avoiding cross-contact with allergens.

Nutritional Facts

Serving size: 470g Per serving Per 100g
Energy (kJ) 1369 291
Fat (g) 5.8 1.2
Saturated fat (g) 2 0.4
Carbohydrates (g) 47.2 10.0
Sugars (g) 18 3.8
Fibre (g) 12.4 2.6
Protein (g) 14.8 3.2
Sodium (mg) 326.5 69.4

Acknowledgement

Recipe originally published by Nutrition Australia.

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