A delicious comfort-food vegan shepherdess pie.
There is a definite hint of Autumn in the air. The days are getting cooler and the Shetland landscape is turning from leafy green into shades of burnt umber, russet and gold while the peat hills are covered in glorious flowering purple heather.
Colder days require comfort food.
I’m a big fan of traditional shepherd’s pie – a layer of spicy beef mince topped with buttery sautéed vegetables finished off with a heaping tower of creamy mashed potato. The ultimate comfort food, with a great bowl of leftovers scoffed later on the evening while watching Netflix (coated in lashings of brown sauce, of course).
I sometimes make a vegetarian version using a tin of borlotti beans and sprinkle the mashed potatoes liberally with grated mature cheddar cheese. Absolute calorific madness.
This time, though, I made something a little different, something a little healthier.
Recently a box of Clearspring goodies arrived for me in the post to play with. One of the boxes was one of their new Quick Cook organic grains and pulses, a mixture of emmer wheat (aka Farro – a type of spelt), barley, yellow split peas, green split peas, red split lentils and Kamut khorasan wheat. These grains and pulses are partially cooked with steam and hot air to reduce the cooking time by two-thirds whilst still retaining their nutritional content. They only take ten minutes to cook! No soaking required!
This is a pretty special product so I wanted to prepare a pretty special meal with them.
We are very lucky in that we get a weekly delivery of organic soft fruits and vegetables from a local supplier each Friday. It’s peak season just now so there are plenty of delicious things to experiment with. I make no special requests with my veg box order, I am happy to take whatever is in season, which means I have no idea what I’ll be eating each week. Every Friday is like Christmas!
Last week a cauliflower (complete with little green caterpillars), a bulb of garlic, mixed red and yellow tomatoes, a brown paper bag filled with with the most gorgeous rainbow carrots and a bag of rainbow chard appeared in the veg box (along with much, much more!). These were combined with the quick cook grains and pulses to make a delicious vegan shepherdess pie.
The vegan shepherdess pie was amazing!
I confess that when I started cooking I didn’t know where I was going to go with the dish, but oh my goodness – I am really pleased with myself for this creation! Even my husband was impressed and had seconds (I might have had thirds). Served with fresh peas (still in their pod from the veg box, we eat those babies like sweeties!) and a lovely mixed leafy salad (also from the veg box) this meal went down an absolute treat.
The quick cook grains and pulses are flavoured simply with fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, fresh basil and organic Japanese Tamari soya sauce before being topped with rainbow chard and gently sautéed rainbow carrots for a touch of colour and gorgeous fresh flavour. The whole dish is finished off with a generous layer of creamy garlic cauliflower millet mash and a sprinkling of paprika for colour.
The flavour improves the following day and leftovers reheat very well.
Vegan Shepherdess Pie with Creamy Cauliflower Mash
Ingredients
Garlic Cauliflower Millet Mash
- 250 grams cauliflower cut into small florets
- 100 grams millet
- 0.5 tsp smoked sea salt
- 1 clove garlic
- 550 ml vegetable stock
- handful fresh parsley
Grain & Pulse Layer
- 250 grams Clearspring Quick Cook Organic Grains & Pulses
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1/2 stick celery finely chopped
- 220 grams fresh ripe tomatoes coarsely chopped
- 4 tbsp Clearspring Organic Japanese Tamari Soya Sauce
- 10 grams fresh basil leaves torn
Vegetable Layer
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 450 grams mixed rainbow carrots peeled and sliced
- 125 grams rainbow chard chopped
To Finish
- smoked paprika
- fresh parsley
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Instructions
For the Mash
- Place the cauliflower florets, millet, salt and garlic in a medium sized saucepan and cover with the vegetable stock.
- Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30-40 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed. Occasionally check to make sure more liquid is not needed.
- Leave to stand, uncovered, for ten minutes to allow the remaining moisture to evaporate off. The mixture will have the look and consistency of mashed potatoes. Stir in the parsley and set aside.
For the Grain & Pulse Layer
- Prepare the Clearspring Quick Cook Organic Grains & Pulses according to the packet directions. Drain and set aside.
- Heat sunflower oil in a sauté pan over a medium-high heat.
- Gently sauté onion until it begins to soften, about five minutes. Add the garlic and celery and sauté a few minutes more.
- Add tomatoes and continue to sauté until the tomato softens.
- Preheat oven to 190 C.
- Stir in the Clearspring Quick Cook Grains & Pulses and the Tamari Soya Sauce. Cook until the mixture thickens and the soya sauce is evenly distributed, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the torn basil leaves and spoon the mixture into the base of a casserole dish.
For the Vegetables
- Heat sunflower oil in a sauté pan over a medium-high heat. Gently sauté the carrots until they begin to soften (about five minutes), but they still retain some of their crunch. You don't want mushy carrots.
- Add the rainbow chard and cook until just wilted. The chard should still be vibrant and green.
- Arrange vegetables on top of the grain & pulse layer of your casserole.
Assembly
- Top your vegetable layer with the cauliflower millet mash.
- Using the tines of a fork draw a decorative pattern on the top, if you wish.
- Sprinkle with paprika, if desired, and bake for 35-40 minutes in the centre of the oven.
- Sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving with a leafy green salad.
OTHER QUICK COOK GRAINS & PULSES RECIPES
Quick Cook Organic Grains & Pulses Burger
Seven Vegetable One Pot
You might also like this vegan lentil dahl recipe!
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Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary received the Clearspring Quick Cook Grains & Pulses and Tamari Soya Sauce for review. All opinions expressed are our own. This is not a paid post.
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What a brilliant idea for a low carb pie. This is making me feel almost nostalgic for autumn! Thanks for linking up to The Cool Cauliflower Recipe Collection 🙂
Looks great.
Love Shepherdess Pie – in fact I’m making my own version today – (never the same twice) – today’s has mixed beans, celery, onions, peppers, tomato, mushrooms and anything else that needs using up 😀
I finally got around to getting some Maldon’s smoked salt and the weather is distinctly chilly again now so this is going on my wishlist for the week. I can’t bring myself to do a planner but I do like a list of ideas and this one is top of the list right now.
This look delicious!
This looks great, and not too difficult!
I’m going to try this on my family and see their reaction, it looks a hearty and warming main meal dish x
My husband was very reluctant to try it when I told him what I was making, but he had seconds, and leftovers again the next day, and thoroughly enjoyed every bite (and he’s very fussy – he’ll tell me if he doesn’t like it!). Let me know what your family think if you do try it – I’d love some feedback 🙂
Looks delicious!
Thanks Ann 🙂
Lovely recipe, it looks very tasty.
Thanks Jayne, it was rather nice! 🙂
More recipes should use chard – it’s easy to grow.
I agree!
Ooh, cauliflower and millet mash sounds fabulous. I can’t eat potatoes and have tried a good many variations on mash but not this one. And I love some sort of Shepherd(ess)’s pie – definitely keen to try this one.
It’s a rather lovely alternative to potatoes – I hope you give it a try sometime! Let me know what you think if you do 🙂
I tried this. I love it. Cauliflower mash is brilliant.
What a great recipe and one that uses so many great veggies as well as lovely sounding pulses. I especially love your topping here and am keen to try this out now that the cooler days are here.
Thanks Laura – do let me know what you think if you try it!
I love shepherd’s pie and this looks delicious – that grain mix sounds delicious – I avoid the ones in the supermarket as they always look old and dusty but a good soup mix is brilliant and quick cook sounds so easy.
Thanks Johanna – I know what you mean about supermarket grains – how long have they been in transit!!
Prefer this to normal shepherd’s pie if i’m honest! Beautiful pictures too 🙂
Aw thanks Emma! 😀 It wasn’t an easy dish to photograph!
I love the name Shepherdess’ pie 🙂 I will definitely try out this recipe
Thanks Dominique 🙂 Let me know what you think if you do – I wonder if Scoop sells the grains?
Excellent. I’ve been looking around for some good vegetarian recipes.
Pleased to help, Paul 🙂
This looks lovely. I particularly like your mash topping as it’s nice to have a change to mashed potatoes and this seems so much better for you. Must try the grains! Love clear spring products
Thanks Nazima 🙂 I’d learned about cauliflower and millet mash about 15 years ago when I worked in a health foods shop, but I upped it a bit with garlic and veg stock. I think it works really well. 🙂
Simply lovely and a great use of the grain mix. My last half packet is earmarked now.
Thanks Helen – I do hope you try it! Let me know what you think of it if you do!
I love farro but only ever use it in Italian recipes, would never have thought of adding it to the Shepherd’s pie. Your dish sounds exciting, so many fvaours going on
I’d honestly never heard of farro until this grain mix arrived – I am in love with it now though!
I’ve not seen this mix from Clearspring – I”ll have to look out for it. I usually do a vegan shepherdess pie that I’ve always done for the past 20 years or so but I will bookmark this for when it gets a teensy bit colder. The sun is out now here in Edinburgh! 22C!
I’d love to see your recipe Kellie – I’ll have a hunt around your blog, I’m sure it’s there somewhere 🙂 22C, that’s positively sweltering!!
My best friend is vegan and I struggle with what to cook for her sometimes so this is a fantastic idea. It sounds so yummy too and has totally made me hungry now xx
It’s a bit of a time consuming faff to make, but it’s so worth it, I think. Then again, shepherd’s pie isn’t quick to whip either!
My reaction when I first saw this on Facebook was literally ‘oh my God’. Stuff the mince pie and veg I’m about to put in the oven. I want this!
Hahaha, yay! I guess I must be doing something right then 😀
This sounds amazing. I always stick to my tried and tested recipe but I would love to try this!
Sometimes it’s nice to experiment in the kitchen 🙂
Oh I love shepherd’s pie – truly comfort food – and I love your vegan version, being a huge fan of farro 🙂 The carrots look so gorgeous – I need to encourage hubby to grow a few more exciting carrots I think!
Thanks Jeanne 🙂 I love the carrots in my veg box, especially the occasional purple one. So pretty!