Vegetarian Shepherds Pie with Sweet Potato, Mushroom & Sausage

This Vegetarian Shepherds Pie with Sweet Potato, Mushroom & Sausage is a one-pot meal that’s quick, easy and full of delicious, healthy ingredients – it’s hearty, filling and perfect for sharing with family or friends.

Pies and casseroles make ideal comfort food we tend to crave especially when it’s cold and snowy outside.  However, they often contain lots of starchy or calorific ingredients (potatoes, lots of cheese, butter, cream etc) so aren’t always too good for us.

The good news is that delicious comfort food doesn’t have to be unhealthy!  You simply have to make a few healthy, easy swaps.

As I have done in this Vegetarian Shepherds Pie with Sweet Potato!

Healthy vegetarian shepherds pie with sweet potato mash

This pie recipe is quite low in fat. I used  only 3 tablespoons of oil (use either olive or good vegetable oil) and only a small amount of cheese.

I also used sweet potato mash, which is full of goodness and flavour.  Unlike white potato mash, which can be a little dry on its own, boiled and mashed sweet potatoes contain more moisture so there is no need to add butter or cream.

Another super nutritious ingredient in this pie recipe is a humble mushroom.  Mushrooms provide vitamins, minerals and add lots of delicious flavour to this vegetarian pie.  I used a combination of closed cup and porcini mushrooms (see Note below about the porcini).

Vegetarian sausages

I also used vegetarian sausages, which are a lot leaner than meat sausages.

A word about vegetarian sausages.  If you’ve never used them I strongly recommend you give them a try (look for good quality ones).  They are delicious, taste quite ‘meaty’, and are simply ideal to use in pies, stews or casseroles, as they add bulk and loads of flavour.  If you are trying to eat less meat these sausages make a great starting point – they are so tasty you won’t miss the real thing at all!

How to make vegetarian shepherds pie with sweet potato mash

1. Start by preparing the sweet potato mash.
2. Briefly soak and rinse the porcini.
3. Fry together the onion, bay leaf, allspice, sausages and mushrooms for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the wine, then flour, water, season, give a good stir and cook gently, covered, for about 15 minutes, stirring often.
5. Transfer the mixture into a pie dish, spread the potato mash over the top, scatter the cheese and bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes.

See Instructions below for more detail.

Porcini mushrooms

If you look at the list of ingredients below you will notice that I used a small amount of porcini mushrooms, in addition to ordinary mushrooms.  Porcini mushrooms have a very intense flavour and I often use them to add more depth to a dish. (Porcini mushrooms can be a little pricey but used sparingly they’ll last for months, just keep them in a dry cupboard). My Low Fat Mushroom Chicken and Sauerkraut Chicken Casserole are two other dishes where I’ve used the porcini in a similar way.

***This shepherds pie recipe is included in a recipe roundup celebrating National Vegetarian Week – 14-20 May 2018, published by The Vegetarian Society.

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Vegetarian Shepherds Pie with Sweet Potato, Mushroom & Sausage

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

50 mins

 

This Vegetarian Shepherds Pie with Sweet Potato, Mushroom & Sausage is a one-pot meal that's quick, easy and full of delicious, healthy ingredients - it's hearty, filling and perfect for sharing with family or friends.

Course: Dinner, Main

Cuisine: International

Keyword: shepherds pie, sweet potato

Servings: 5 -6 servings

Author: Everyday Healthy Recipes

Ingredients

• 800 g sweet potato
• 300 g mushrooms roughly chopped
• 6 good quality vegetarian sausages, chopped into chunks
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 60 ml white wine
• 5 g porcini mushrooms, 3-4 pieces
• 1 tablespoon corn flour
• 3 tablespoons vegetable/olive oil
• 2 whole allspice and/or juniper
• 1 bay leaf
• 100 ml cold water
• 40 g cheddar cheese, or other strong cheese, coarsely grated
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Peel the sweet potatoes, cut into chunks and cook, covered, in a small amount of salted water (they only need to partially immersed in water) until soft. Drain off the water and mash the potatoes. Cover and set aside.

2. Place the porcini mushrooms in a bowl with a small amount of water and leave for 2 minutes. Rinse under cold water to remove any remaining soil.

3. In a large pan heat up the oil, add the bay leaf and allspice/juniper, onion, porcini, stir and cook over a medium heat for a minute. Add the chopped mushrooms and sausages, stir and cook for 2 more minutes.
4. Add the wine, stir and cook for another minute or so. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture, stir thoroughly, add the cold water, stir, bring to boil, then cover, lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often (add a drop of water if your mixture becomes too thick). Remove from the heat and season to taste. Remove the porcini, finely chop and put back into the mixture (optional).
5. While the mushroom and sausage mixture is bubbling away preheat the oven to 400 F/ 200C/ gas mark 6.
6. Transfer the mushroom mixture into a medium oven dish (approx. 6 cm deep), spread the potato mash over the top, sprinkle with the cheese and bake for 25 minutes - after 20 minutes increase the temperature to gas mark 8 to crisp up the cheese (alternatively place under the grill for a few minutes).

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RECIPE LINK PARTIES

This vegetarian sausage pie is perfect to enjoy the next day too so I am bringing it to Cook Once Eat Twice.

I am also sharing my vegetarian shepherds pie with sweet potato mash with #CookBlogShare, which I have the pleasure of hosting this week.  If you are a blogger, why not join in and show off your culinary creations:)  Also sharing with Fiesta Friday.