Meat Free Cottage Pie

I am always delighted when I cook a meal and see my family enjoying it. But I will admit to feeling quite triumphant when I see them all digging in and enjoying a meal that I know is full of healthy goodness.

I am always trying to find new ways of getting extra vegetables into their meals and them eating the meal with no questions asked, which we all know can sometimes be difficult with children. We are currently changing our diets to include more meat free meals and less meat. At the moment it is simply trial and error to see what the children will and won't eat. So when I find a meal, like this one, that is a success with everybody I love to shout about it!

Shepherds pie is a family favourite of ours so I did hope that it would go down well and I certainly was not disappointed. Not one person questioned what it was or where the meat was or why I had cooked it differently. Not even my 11 year old who has something to say about everything!

This meat free version of shepherds pie contains nine different vegetables and green lentils. But that is not where the goodness stops. I have also substituted the butter in the mash for Clover. Clover is better for you than regular butter. It contains half the saturated fats than regular butter but still has the same great taste. Clover is made with naturally low fat buttermilk and contains nothing artificial. With the extra vegetables and a healthier spread this really is a healthy meal which the whole family will love!

This is what I did...

Meat Free Shepherds Pie

Ingredients

1 medium red onion, chopped

2 leeks, quartered and sliced

150g broccoli, chopped into small florets

150g cauliflower, chopped into small florets

150g mushrooms, halved and sliced

3 carrots, quartered and sliced

150g sweetcorn

1 x 400g tin of green lentils, drained

1 x 400g chopped  tomatoes

500mls vegetable or beef stock

750g potatoes, I used half sweet potatoes and half white potatoes, chopped

25g hard goats cheese, broken into small pieces

1 heaped tbsp of Clover

Spray oil

Method

1 - In a deep saute pan heat a few sprays of oil, add the onions and leeks and fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes

2 - Add the carrots to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring often

3 - Add the broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, sweetcorn, lentils, chopped tomatoes and stock mixing thoroughly

4 - Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes

5 - Bring a large pan of water to the boil then add the chopped potatoes and simmer for 20 minutes or until soft enough to mash

6 - Once the sauce has thoroughly cooked transfer to a large oven proof dish

7 - Once the potatoes are soft drain them and remove from the heat

8 - Add the Clover Lighter than Light to the potatoes and mash until you have a smooth and creamy mash

9 - Top the sauce with the mash and scatter over the small pieces of goats cheese

10 - Place under a grill set at a high heat to allow the cheese melt then serve

This meal can be served as it is or with extra gravy. Either way I can guarantee that any fussy eaters will not be able to tell the difference. The green lentils made a delicious meat substitute and I will certainly be making this change again.

Enjoy x

This recipe is my entry to the Clover #NothingArtificial challenge with Tots100