Crunchy Cook Recipe: Lentil Ragu Veggie Cottage Pie

A veggie version of the family classic, this gets its protein from lentils and sneaks in a range of veg too. The lentil ragu tastes better the day after it has been made, so you could prepare this in advance and cook when you’re ready.

We’ve made it as easy as possible for you to make this dish by packing the ingredients into a Crunchy Cook meal kit bag: we weigh everything out for you, include a recipe sheet and have filmed a step-by-step video showing you how to make it: How to Make Our Veggie Cottage Pie Video. Crunchy Cook bags save you time, cost almost the same as buying the ingredients separately in-store (we add 50p to cover packaging and packing), and cut food waste because you buy exactly what you need.

Find out more about the bags, including how to order them, here.

Serves 4 

Ingredients

Basic recipe, ingredients included in the bag:
1 carrot, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
1 stick celery, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
200g mushrooms, sliced
150g brown or green lentils, rinsed
75g barley, rinsed
600ml vegetable stock, made up from a stock cube or bouillon
1 tin tomatoes
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
15g fresh basil, roughly torn or chopped
800g floury potato 

Not included in bag:
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon butter
Splash of milk
Salt and pepper

Optional additions (loads! Any or all of the following):

1 small glass of red wine (add just after you’ve cooked added the lentils, and bubble to reduce it for a minute) 

Add any of these at the same time as the basil stalks:
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
2 sprigs thyme, leaves picked, or a level tablespoon dried mixed herbs
1 tablespoon miso paste
2 teaspoons Worcestershire / brown sauce for vegetarians
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Marmite

Method

1.      Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Turn the heat down low and add the onion, carrot and celery and sweat until softened, about 10 minutes.

2.      While that’s cooking, scrub the potatoes and remove any ‘eyes’ and blemishes. There’s no need to peel them but you can if you prefer. Chop into 3cm chunks, and rinse them under cold water to remove some of the starch (this prevents ‘gluey’ mash’. Put in a large saucepan and cover with plenty of cold water until needed later.

3.      Turn up the heat a bit under the onion mixture and add the sliced mushrooms. Cook until they’ve released their water. Add the garlic, paprika, cumin and cinnamon and cook for another two minutes until the spices are fragrant.

4.      Tip in the tinned tomatoes and stir, then add the lentils and barley and stir again. Pour in the vegetable stock, add the basil stalks, cover with the lid and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes until the lentils and barley are soft and the liquid reduced. Stir every now and again, and top up with water if it’s looking dry.

5.      Pre-heat the oven to 180C / gas 4.

6.      While you’re waiting for this to cook, make the mashed potato. Add a pinch of salt to the water they’re in and bring to the boil. Starting with cold water ensures they cook evenly. Pop the lid on, turn the heat down a little until they’re just boiling and bubble for 10 – 15 minutes until soft.

7.      Drain the potatoes really well – you want them as dry as possible. Return them to the saucepan and put them back over the heat for 30 seconds or so, shaking them regularly to evaporate off as much water as possible. Turn off the heat, add a couple of generous knobs of butter, a splash of milk (three of four tablespoons’ worth) and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Mash thoroughly until there are no lumps (other than the potato skins, if you’ve left those on).

8.      When the lentils and barley in the ragu are soft, turn off the heat and stir through the basil leaves. Spoon it into the bottom of a large baking dish and top with the mashed potato, raking the potato into little crags with a fork – these get nice and crispy in the oven.

9.      Scatter over a handful of cheese if you’re using it, and pop into the oven for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and crisp. It’s very good served alongside a green salad.

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Cooking Techniques Explained

Sweat: cooking vegetables gently in oil or butter so they soften without browning too much. For example, to sweat onion means to gently cook it over a low heat until it turns translucent without browning. Putting a lid on the pan helps this process by causing condensation to drop back into the pan and stop the veg drying out.               

Boil: Heating a liquid until it bubbles vigorously.

Simmer: Heating until bubbles gently break the surface, below boiling point.

Dice: Cutting food into small cube shapes, about 0.5cm wide.

Crush: Usually used when preparing garlic: once you’ve chopped it as small as you can, crush it into a paste using the edge of your knife or a spoon to get as much flavour out as possible.

Sauté: quickly frying in a hot pan, in oil or butter.