SHEPERDLESS PIE

Serves: 4-6 
Preparation time: 30 minutes 
Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 200g lentils (puy or beluga are best)
• 1 lapsang souchong tea bag
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 8 mushrooms
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 1 tbsp sweet smoky paprika
• 2 tbsps tomato paste
• 2 tsps marmite
• 1 tbsps rapeseed oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Creamy polenta topping:

• 200g polenta
• 600ml vegetable stock
• 1 tbsps finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt

Method

1. Cover the lentils in plenty of cold water (approx. 1l) and bring to the boil with the tea. Leave to simmer. Cook for 20-25 minutes, or until al dente.
2. Drain the lentils, but save 200ml of the cooking liquid.
3. Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the onions. Finely chop the tomatoes. Roughly chop the mushrooms. Peel and cube the carrot into small dice.
4. Add the oil to a large frying pan and add the carrots, tomatoes, paprika and onion. Fry gently until the onion is translucent (takes about 10 minutes).
5. Add the cooked lentils with the 200ml of the lentil cooking liquid, mushrooms, tomato paste and marmite. Stir until the marmite and tomato paste has dissolved. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Take off the heat and cover while making the polenta.
6. To make the polenta, bring the vegetable stock and herbs to a boil.
7. Measure out the polenta and oil.
8. When the stock is boiling, add the polenta in a slow stream. Stir until the mixture thickens and bubbles, which only takes a couple of minutes. Take off the heat and taste for seasoning. Pour the filling into a deep baking dish (26cm x 20cm) and spread on top of the pie. (Optional: use a fork to make lines on the top, this helps get some extra crispiness.)
9. Place under a preheated grill for 5 minutes, or until the top crisps up.

Get ahead

• The filling can be made a couple of days in advance or frozen in an airtight container. It’s best to make the polenta just before serving as it will harden and no longer be creamy if left to sit for a long time.
• If you’re short on time, you can use pre-cooked cooked lentils (although I always find they’re a little too mushy).

Tips

• Stir the polenta constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent lumps building up. 
• If you feel like the polenta is thickening too quickly, remove from the heat and beat very hard.

http://www.bbc-asia.com/rachel-khoos-kitchen-notebook-london/recipes/episode-5/