Wednesday 21 November 2007

Vegetarian Shepherds Pie Recipe (fat free)


This recipe is made very often in my home as it is so very tasty!!

My Vegetarian/Vegan Shepherd's Pie recipe is so delicious that we have not used minced meat in a very long time to cook a shepherd's pie. The meat alternative in this recipe is mung beans, if you have never used mung beans you will wonder how they could replace meat, but trust me when I say that these are one of the meatiest tasting beans there is!

This shepherds pie recipe tastes so good that you will forget that you ever cooked it without meat as you will be far too busy savouring the delicious flavours coming off your spoon! This recipe is also fat free.

It is always best to use a pressure cooker for this recipe as the consistency is a lot better, but if you don't use one then just make sure you cook all your pie filling till it is soft textured.

Also if you do not use butter in your mashed potatoes like in this recipe then use Vivaldi Potatoes as they are so creamy in taste that it would not be necessary to add any butter.

I promise you that once you taste my vegetarian/vegan recipe you will never look at a meat made pie the same ever again.


Ingredients
1 Cup Mung Beans
1 Pint Water (or just over 2 cups)
2 Carrots (diced small)
1 Small Leek (diced small)
1 Small Onion (diced small)
1 Small Celery Stick (diced small)
1 Parsnip (diced small)
Salt and Pepper
8-10 Small Vivaldi Potatoes



Getting Started.....


Take your cup of mung beans and place them in a dish. Carefully pour just over 1 pint or 2-2+1/2 cups of hot water or until the beans are fully covered with double the amount of water. Leave them to soak for a few hours I soaked mine for 8 hours they will cook after being soaked for 1-2 hours in a pressure cooker. If you are not using a pressure cooker you need to soak your beans over night.



When your beans are ready they will have plumped up a little. Rinse them under cold water and place them into your pressure cooker. Now add all your vegetables on top of your mung beans but do NOT mix or stir them. Put your potatoes on to boil in some salted water at least 10 minutes before you cook your Shepard's pie filling.




Pour in enough water until you see it start to come up through the vegetables. This is enough water to cook them in. Place on your cooker lid correctly and bring to the boil, once boiling turn down the heat to the lowest setting and cook for 20 minutes.



When your potatoes are soft mash them through a sieve to ensure there is no lumps.



When your beans are cooked stir thoroughly and add salt to season.




Pour your shepherds pie filling into an oven dish. Scoop spoon fulls of your mashed potatoes and gradually cover your whole pie.



With the back of your spoon even all the potato flat. Take a fork and put diagonals across the whole pie.



Place your shepherds pie under a hot grill until your pie topping had gone all golden brown.



To make Brussels Sprouts just boil then in some salted water for a few minutes then they will be ready.




Your pie is ready.



Enjoy Jeena's Shepherds Pie. :)




This is how every plate looks after eating Jeenas Vegetarian shepherds pie .... You will love this dish, So let's get Cooking !




20 comments:

Finla said...

I have never had shephards pie, non or veg.
In indian kitchen we use a lot of mungbeans.
At home my mom used to ake dishes with it at least once a week.

Chef Jeena said...

Hi happy cook thanks for stopping by. :) Shepherds pie is a traditiojnal English dish. Youe brown off some minced lamb with onions, carrots and other veggies then mix it into a gravy. You top that with mashed poato and grill or oven cook it. We eat this with boiled or steamed vegetables. :) It is real tasty and wholesome, there is also cottage pit which is similar but made with minced beef.

I think it is great that your mum used mung beans so much I bet you have lots of great recipes. :) We love mung beans. :)

Rachel said...

Have always had this pie with meant in it..trust your verdict on moong dal being a nice filling!!!

amna said...

why dont u send this across to suganya's event, vegan ventures? Here is the link: www.tastypalettes.com. look for the link that says vegan ventures.

lovely recipel jeena. more people should see it :)

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

I use moong a lot, also the sprouts. Shall have to do this sometime. Will have to take your word for moong being the meatiest tasting though, I wouldn't know :D

Kribha said...

I use mung beans in salads and gravies but never tried it in a pie before. The combination of vegetables and the loads of mashed potato on top...yum. I can imagine how tasty it would have been.

Seena said...

great, Jeena. What a nice dish!
side bar photoes are lovely!

Rosie said...

Hi Jeena,
This is a lovely recipe and I know I would really enjoy this more than with meat ;) What lovely pics too.

Rosie x

Cynthia said...

This is a delicious twist to the meat version. Great going, Jeena.

Cakelaw said...

Looks fantastic Jeena!

. . . said...

mmm. i LOVE it when something that sounds so amazing is fat free!
thank you for sharing this-- and your photos are lovely!

Chef Jeena said...

Rachel thanks for stopping by. :) Mung beans truly are the best shepherds pie alternative! :)

Hey Nags thanks for stopping by. :) Glad you like my recipe. :) I'll have a look at your link thanks.

Hey Aparna let me know how it goes when you give it a go. Mungsprouts are great yes. Thanks for stopping by. :)

Hey Kribha yes this is a traditional British recipe only we use lamb mince usually. Thanks for stopping by. :)

Hey Seena thanks for commenting. :) Hope you feel better. :) Glad you like the pictures. :)

Hey Rosie why not give it a try we never use meat in shepherds pie anymore because it taste so good. Thanks for stopping by. :)

Hi Cynthia thanks for stopping by. It was real tasty too. :)

Hey Cakelaw thanks for stopping by. :)

Hey there .... thanks for commenting, this recipe is really delicious. I'm glad you like the pictures. :)

Anonymous said...

I came across this recipe and it looks delicious. Is there a way to cook this shephard's pie if I don't have a pressure cooker?

Chef Jeena said...

Hi anonymous, yes you can stew the pie filling by bringing them to the boil in a pan then cooking on a medium heat until the beans are soft and cooked. Follow the recipe but stew the ingredients instead.

You must soak the mung beans over night if you do not use a pressure cooker.

Thanks for stopping by, this pie is a real meaty treat and very delicious.

Have fun cooking
Jeena :-)

Anonymous said...

Can you use a crock pot with this recipe?

Chef Jeena said...

If you do not use a pressure cooker you must always soak the mung beans over night.

You can soak the beans then boil them until they soften.

Anonymous said...

I can't find mung beans anywhere! I live in NYC, and went to 3 different Whole Foods stores and a few different specialty stores that I thought would carry them, but no luck! Do you have any suggestions for a substitute bean?

Chef Jeena said...

Hi there,

Please tell me what variety of beans and lentils are availanle for you and I could suggest the best one.

Green lentils are very earthy in flavour, you could use a combination of green lentils and beans.

Feel free to email me for more help.

Thanks, Jeena.

faceless said...

I once made a replacement for meat using porridge oats that I'd toasted in a frying pan with soy sauce. The toasting makes sure the oats keep the texture even while moist, and it went down very well.

all the best

Anonymous said...

I cooked this tonight and it was really good - the kids loved it. I have a couple of comments. I couldn't seem to get the gravy effect that you had. I soaked my beans overnight so maybe that's why, but the water just ended up as liquid rather than a thick gravy. Also, I added garlic, celery salt and mixed spice in mine. The kids ended up really liking it with tomato sauce too. Thanks Jeena!!