I am loving lentils at present and they are great for kids too. My youngest loves them, my oldest takes a bit more persuasion. I did get a “errrrr” out of him when I served him up his portion, but once he started eating it, he pretty much cleared his plate, which was great to see.
Lentil Shepherds Pie
Serves 4 (2 adults and2 kids ) with one leftover portion
Ingredients
- 1 cup of uncooked brown lentils, rinsed
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 carrots, finely chopped
- 1 courgette (zucchini) finely chopped
- 1/2 cup of frozen peas
- 1/2 cup of frozen sweetcorn
- sprinkling of thyme
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- balsamic vinegar
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cups (720ml) of low sodium vegetable stock
- 2 heaped tablespoons of tomato paste
- black pepper to season
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 100g of cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Add the carrots, courgette and thyme and cook for a further 5 mins and then stir in the lentils, tomato paste and paprika to evenly coat.
Pour in the stock and add a splash of balsamic vinegar and the bay leaves, then bring to a boil and cover and simmer for 1.5 hours.
Stir in the peas and sweetcorn
When lentils are almost finished cooking time. Add your sweet potato to a pot of boiling hot water and simmer till softened. Then mash, season with some black pepper and set aside.
Preheat oven to 200c or 400f (gas mark 6)
Layer your lentil mixture into an oven proof dish. Spread over the mashed sweet potato and sprinkle with your grated cheese.
Bake in the oven for about 30 mins, until cheese is melted and golden.
Serve with your choice of sides and enjoy!!
Tried this recipe out today with Ella (my 14 month old) and she loved it – I walked away to refill her bowl as she actually started to cry as I think she thought I was taking it away! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe as Ella has been such a fussy eater lately and this is a great recipe to sneak in lots of veggies! Have you ever tried to freeze small portions of this recipe?
Oh I am so happy to hear she loved it.
This recipe will freeze fine, but best to freeze before going in the oven.