Vegitarian Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie is quite possibly the first thing that certified my love for all things English. Either that or tea. I don't remember which came first. I do remember being about 8 or 9 years old and spending a summer's day at Epcot with my family. It was always my favorite theme park because it had all the different countries of the world that I so desperately wanted (and still want) to travel to. We stopped at the "English Pub" for lunch and I had tea and shepherd's pie. And it was delicious. all of it.

However, I wanted to try something new that would allow a little more legumes into my diet. I took my inspiration from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch and their recipe for Lentil Shepherd's Pie and then improvised along the way. I find a lot of the time when I'm working with recipes for cooking (less so with the baking) that I tend to improvise as I go, seeking improvements. I'll think of different ways I could have prepared it or could have served it to make the whole process better and then write them down and try them out later. I have a pen-and-paper recipe journal for that so I don't forget what I did the first time and what I wanted to do differently after that.

This attempt, though a first try, was a successful one. Everything was gooey and delicious and just as heavy and satisfying as any shepherd's pie that I've had before. And for those who care, no meat. It did use cheese however, so it wasn't really designed to be vegan though it would be easy to substitute soy cheese or leave it out all together.

The batch I made was quite large and could have easily served 8 people a hearty meal. However, I have pared down the quantity here to make it a bit more reasonable for the average home chef. If you're anything like me, you're usually not cooking for more than 2-4 people total and not everyone has room in the fridge or freezer for left overs. (Though my left overs are going straight into smaller portions in the freezer for easy microwave dinners!)

I'm not going to post the actual recipe yet, as it still needs some perfecting. Plus, I recently discovered a friend of mine can't eat lentils so I'd like to be able to post a with lentils and a without lentils version.

More to come soon!