Lentil and Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

​Not every meal has to be a meat meal.
This Lentil and Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie is a super healthy but awesome budget meal that can be served with steamed vegies or a side salad or even as a side to a cut of cooked meat. 
Packed with nutritional goodness of legumes and sweet potatoes, this shepherd's pie is also packed with flavour.

Lentil Mix

1 cup red lentils
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
1 medium carrot
1 small red capsicum
1 stalk celery
2x 400g tins diced tomatoes
1 cup vegetable stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
Pinch of salt
Dash of pepper
2 bay leaves
Pinch mixed herbs
 
Directions to Cook:
Finely dice onion, carrots and capsicum. Thinly slice celery.
Heat oil and butter in pan and sauté onion, garlic, carrot, capsicum and celery until tender. Add lentils and stir through tomatoes, vegetable stock, tomato paste, lemon juice, sugar, herbs and bay leaves. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly and lentils are tender. Remove bay leaves.

Sweet Potato Topping
1kg sweet potatoes
1 large potato
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup milk
¼ cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
 
 
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 2 cm cubes and potato into 1cm cubes. Boil until tender. Drain and mash with milk and butter.
 
Spoon warm lentil mix into a greased 6 cup capacity (22cm) ovenproof dish. Top with mashed sweet potatoes. Top with combined cheeses and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden and bubbling.

Serve with Green Salad and garlic bread.