I make a shepherds pie with a twist. It’s the number one favourite meal in the house where no one says yuck or I don’t feel like it.
Mine even has lentils added. Yep, you heard it, lentils. Often people associate them with vegans, vegetarians or hippies, but actually, you can’t knock them until you have tried them. My family lap them up in mince meals. It makes it a healthier choice and no flavour is compromised.
This is a great meal to get the veges into the kids that would otherwise complain eating them. And actually now that I think about it it has 4 different types of vegetables
It is also a great budget friendly meal for those trying to cut down the spending on the groceries. The whole meal would cost under $10 (australian)
So here go, I am going to attempt to give you my recipe when I normally make it straight from my head, and not from a book. I will also add that I am not physically making this today, so for the early birds reading this I may not have a photo of the steps or the finished product at this stage but will add them in when I cook it next.
Ingredients
Bottom meat section
500g beef mince
400g tin of brown lentils (drained & rinced)
400g tin of diced tomatoes
1-2 clove of garlic (or more for those that love it like me. I use minced garlic from the jar)
3 tablespoons of gravy powder
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
Water if needed
Top mashed potato
4-5 medium potatoes
1 tablespoon of butter
Approx 1/2 cup of milk
Handful of grated cheese (more of less depending on taste)
Cooking Steps
Step 1
Firstly peel & put potatoes into a saucepan covered with water. Put on the stove to boil. Cook these until tender to be mashed.
Step 2
In the meantime, brown the mince in another saucepan. I use a large saucepan, others may prefer a frypan. Either are just as good.
Stir in the garlic.
Then add in the tin of tomatoes and the drained tin of lentils (don’t forget to drain the lentils first or it may not taste as good. Stir these in breaking up the tomato a little more if needed.
Add in frozen vegetables. No need to thaw these before cooking. If you want to add in more or other frozen vegetables then go ahead.
Stir in the grazy powder. At this stage I stir for a few minutes and if it thickens too much I add in a little extra water. You don’t want it running but you don’t want it too thick either.
Let this simmer while waiting for the potatoes to cook.
Step 3
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water. Add in the butter and half of the milk and mash them together. Add in more milk as needed till it has a smooth, lump free consistency.
Get the cooked mince and put into an oven proof casserole dish.
Add the mashed potato on top spoonfuls at a time.
Finally spinkle with cheese on top.
Step 4
Place into a 180°C oven for approximately 30 minutes.
Serve and enjoy.
This can be made ahead of time, reridgerated and placed in the oven for step 4 when it is dinner time.
It can also be frozen after step 3.
