If you loved your mother’s Shepherd’s Pie but nolonger eat meat you should find this recipe to be a wonderful vegan version – great tasting and quite filling.
Shepherd's Pie - Vegan
This is based on the traditional Shepherd's Pie recipe, but uses tempeh, mushrooms and other ingredients to make it as tasty as the original.
Ingredients
Root Vegetables
- 4 medium red potatoes, quartered
- 1 1/4 cups chopped rutabaga/turnip
- 3 medium carrots
- 2 parsnips
Other Ingredients
- 3 tbsp water
- 8 oz. brown button mushrooms
- 1/2 medium red onion - chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 leek
- 8 oz tempeh
- 1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
Instructions
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Root Vegetables
- Wash the root vegetables but do not peel.
- Cut the potatoes into quarters. Chop the rutabaga/turnip into chunks. Chop the carrots and parsnips into thick slices ( about 1" thick).
- Put all the root vegetables in a saucepan and add enough water to cover them.
- Bring to a boil and cook covered until the vegetables are tender ( about 20 minutes - the rutabaga may need slightly longer).
- Remove the carrots and parsnips from the saucepan to a bowl. Mash them and put them aside to be used in the filling.
- Mash the potatoes and rutabaga/turnip together. Set aside for use in the topping.
Filling
- Chop the mushrooms and heat them with a little water ( 1 Tbsp) in a large pan on Medium-High for a couple of minutes. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, removing the cover for the last minute or two so that they are mostly dry. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Reduce heat to Medium and add 1 tbsp water. Chop the onions, garlic and leek and add to the pan. Saute, stirring occasionally, for 5-8 minutes until onions start to brown and leeks soften. A little more water may be added, if necessary, to prevent burning.
- Crumble the tempeh and mix with the other ingredients in the pan. Add a little more water ( 1 tbsp) if necessary. Reduce heat to Medium-Low. Saute, stirring frequently for about 15 minutes until the tempeh is starting to get nicely brown.
- Sprinkle the thyme (fresh chopped or dried) into the pan and mix, adding a little water ( 1 tbsp) if the mixture is too dry.
- Stir the cooked mushrooms and mashed parsnips/carrots into the onion-tempeh mixture.
- Pour the filling into a casserole dish and spread it out evenly.
Final Steps
- Spread mashed rutabaga potatoes over the onion-tempeh mixture in the casserole dish.
- Bake, uncovered, for about 45 minutes until piping hot.
- Remove from the oven and let sit, keeping warm, for 15 minutes before serving, to give time for the flavor to develop.
Notes
Adapted from a Wegmans (www.wegmans.com)recipe.
