Veggie Cottage Pie

The weather is getting colder and we're all in need of some comfort food. I love making this dish as I get about 3-4 serves left over for the rest of the week, and it freezes really well. For the meat eaters in my family, they say this one tastes even better than the traditional. It's loaded with veggies and is a perfect dish for those winter days. 

Recipe

Veggie Cottage Pie 

Ingredients

• 1 Onion (diced)
• 1 clove Garlic 
• 2 Carrots (diced)
• 2 sticks Celery (diced)
• 2 Zucchini (diced)
• 1/4 Cauliflower 
• 1 cup Passta sauce
• 3 cups Veg stock 
• 1 can cooked Brown lentils (rinsed well) 
• 1 tsp Salt 
• 1 tsp Mixed Italian herbs 
• 1 tbs Butter 

Mash Potato 

• 5-6 Potatoes (peeled and roughly chopped)
• 3-4 tbs Butter 
• 1/2 cup Grated cheese 

Directions

1. Cook the onion and garlic in a large pot with a generous amount of olive oil. We tend to be a bit heavy handed with the olive oil, but it's so tasty. 
2. Once the onion has softened a bit, add the celery, carrot, zucchini and cauliflower and cook for another 4 minutes. 
3. Add the Pastaa sauce and the stock and bring to boil. 
4. Once boiling, lower the heat and cook till the liquid has reduced A LOT (about 25 minutes). 
5. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes till they are nice and tender and mash through a potato ricer. 
6. Add the butter and a little bit of salt, mix it all in and let it rest to the side. 
7. Add the drained lentils to the veggies. Then add salt, mixed herbs and the butter and mix it all together. 
8. Pour the lentil mixture into a large baking dish, then spoon the mash potato onto and sprinkle with the cheese.
9. Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes (might need to put it under the grill for a little longer to make the cheese extra crispy). 

Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer before cooking for up to 3 months.