Kay's Farmer's Pie: A bit like a Cottage Pie but with Mushrooms, Lentils, Leeks and Red Wine

It's been an age since I posted a recipe. Basically I've been working stupid hours and also we've moved house. What better way to settle in than cooking for everyone. And this week I've cooked a lot, including this delicious savoury pie. It's a hearty winter warmer perfect for the change in season and just as good for a Sunday lunch.

We've moved in with Andrea and Ameer so as to save up for a deposit and I am loving their big kitchen and lovely big pots and pans. I chose myself this massive Le Creuset dish and consequently this recipe feeds up to 8 people. You can reduce quantities to feed less though. See recipe below.

In a pan, fry off your onions, leek, celery and mushrooms in olive oil. Add your garlic, spices, salt and pepper. Then add your tomato puree and lentils. Let them cook for a minute or so to absorb the flavours. If you don't cook off the tomato puree, it can taste really bitter.

Pour in the red wine and let the alcohol simmer off for about 4 minutes. Then add a stock cube and water, as well as a tablespoon of marmite. This is optional. I just like the really nice savoury flavour that this adds, as well as the deep colour.

Cover and cook on a low heat so that it's gently simmering for about 40 minutes until the lentils are al dente and almost cooked. Halfway through this stage, add in your chopped carrots. I add them a bit later as I like them to have a bit of texture to them still when you serve up.

At this stage, turn on the oven to 180-190 degrees centigrade and let it heat up and prepare your mashed potatoes.

Chop and boil your potatoes with their skins on until they're soft. Then add a good seasoning of nutmeg, salt, pepper and a dollop of butter. For the amount of potatoes I had I used about 30g butter.

Mash and adjust seasoning to taste. We added some grated cheese to our mash to make it a bit richer. 

Compile your pie, putting your lentil filing on the bottom and mashed potato on top with a generous helping of cheddar cheese on the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the cheese on the top has browned to your taste.

Serve with fresh greens or whatever you fancy.

Recipe (serves 6-8 people)
Prep and cooking together takes about 2 hours. Perfect for a winter weekend. Not a quick supper.

For the lentil stew/ pie base:
1 large white onion
1 leek
1 stick of celery
3 cloves of garlic

Mushrooms- I used about 10 small mushrooms chopped roughly. Up to you how many.

Italian herbs, thyme, rosemary, ground coriander, parsley, salt and pepper. 
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into large chunks for a rustic feel
150g green puy lentils
1 large tablespoon of tomato puree
1 vegetable stock cube
1-2 glasses of red wine depending on how rich you like it! 
1 tablespoon of marmite
water to cover lentils. Add more if you think the mixture is too dry. It should look like the photos above.

For the potatoes:
8 medium potatoes chopped in half
nutmeg, salt and pepper
25-30g butter
150-200g grated mature cheddar cheese. 50g should go into the mashed potato mix. If you just want the cheese on top then used 150g.