Lentils are a great alternative to mince when making a shepherd’s pie. As you’re not getting as much protein as you would with mince, I’ve added a little bit of cheese to the mash topping. It’ll bump up your protein intake and also adds a great bit of extra flavour.

serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• • 2 red onions
• • 2 carrots
• • 2 sticks of celery
• • 2 cloves of garlic
• • a small bunch of fresh rosemary
• • 2 x 400g tins of lentils
• • olive oil
• • 1 x 400g tin of plum tomatoes
• • 200ml vegetable stock, preferably organic
• • 1.5kg Desiree potatoes
• • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• • 150g Cheddar cheese, grated
• • 100ml whole milk
• • a large knob of butter
• • 1 fresh nutmeg, for grating

To prepare and cook your filling

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• Peel and roughly chop the onions and carrots
• Trim and roughly chop the celery
• Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves

To prepare and cook your filling

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• Pick the rosemary leaves, discard the stalks
• Finely chop half of leaves, put the rest to one side
• Drain the lentils

To prepare and cook your filling

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• Heat a large pan on a medium heat
• Add a good lug of olive oil and the onions, carrots, celery and garlic
• Cook gently with the lid on for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until softened

To prepare and cook your filling

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• Add the chopped rosemary leaves, tinned tomatoes and stock and stir well
• Bring to the boil, then add the drained lentils, reduce to a low heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes, or until thick and delicious

To make your mash topping

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• Peel the potatoes, cut them into halves and quarters depending on their size, and put them into a pan of salted, boiling water
• Boil for about 10 minutes until tender
• Stick a knife into them to check they’re soft all the way through

To make your mash topping

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• Drain in a colander and return them to the pan
• Grate the Cheddar cheese
• Add the milk, butter, most of the cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper to the pan

To make your mash topping

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• Finely grate in a few scrapings of nutmeg
• Mash until smooth and creamy

To assemble and cook your shepherd’s pie

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• Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5
• Transfer the lentil mixture to a large ovenproof baking dish
• Spoon the mash evenly over the top, poke the remaining rosemary leaves into it to decorate and drizzle with olive oil

To assemble and cook your shepherd’s pie

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• Sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese, then cook in the hot oven for 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbling
• Serve with broccoli (see Brilliant broccoli) or some lovely peas