Mushroom & Lentil Burn’s Night Pie
Main Course
Feeds 4-6
Cook Time: 90 Mins
Difficulty: Medium
I’m a huge advocate of eating offal but I completely understand that not everyone is. So I wanted to take all the flavours, comfort and warmth of haggis and transform it into an accessible, vegan dish. Perfect for vegans, meat eaters and everyone in between.
It’s rich and comfortingly spiced with nutmeg and white pepper and topped with ‘neeps & tatties’ - it really is a one stop shop for Burn’s Night!
Feel free to play around with what mushrooms and lentils you use. Any mushrooms will do and any cooked puy, brown or green lentils work perfectly. I use tinned for convenience, they arrive cooked and ready to be drained and rinsed before use but feel free to cook your own from dried if you fancy!
I use the most amazing Charcoal Salt from Droitwich Salt for this dish. It’s packed with mushrooms and garlic so really draws out the intense umami flavours in this dish. You can of course use whatever salt you have to hand but if you get a chance to try it, I highly recommend it!
The mixes in this recipe can be made in advance and all freeze really well. So go and get in front if you have time!
Once assembled, the entire pie will keep in your fridge for 2-3 days and freezes really really well! You can in fact cook the whole pie from frozen, just reduce the oven temperature to 160C and double the cooking time!
I hope you enjoy this recipe! I adore the flavours in this! For me, this is far from just a Burn’s Night recipe and far more an all year round comfort food recipe!
INGREDIENTS:
For The Base:
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion, Finely Diced
2 Medium Carrots, Finely Diced
4 Sprigs Thyme, Leaves removed and roughly chopped
3 Smoked Garlic Cloves (Normal Garlic works fine)
250g Chestnut Mushrooms, Finely Diced
30g Dried Mushrooms
600ml Vegetable Stock
1 Tin Green Lentils in Water, drained and rinsed (any cooked puy, green or brown lentils will work)
100g Porridge Oats
50g Sunflower Seeds
1 Dsp Marmite
2 Tsp Cornflour (and a splash of water)
1/4 Nutmeg, freshly grated
1 Tsp Coriander Seeds
1/2 Tsp Ground White Pepper
Pinch Droitwich Salt Charcoal Salt
For The Neeps & Tatties:
300g Swede
300g Potatoes
4 Tbsp Vegan Butter/Spread
Pinch Pure Salt
Pinch Ground White Pepper
METHOD:
For the base, heat the olive oil in a large based pan on a medium-low heat.
Add the chopped onion, carrot, thyme leaves and a pinch of charcoal salt. Cook and sweat the vegetables for 10 minutes until softened.
Meanwhile, heat or make the vegetable stock, add the dried mushrooms, remove from the heat and leave to steep/soak.
Once the onions and carrots are soft, add the chopped chestnut mushrooms and increase the heat to medium.
Fry the mushrooms for 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly.
Strain the vegetable stock into the pan, then roughly chop the soaked dried mushrooms into smaller pieces before adding to the pan.
Add the drained green lentils, the porridge oats, sunflower seeds, the marmite, freshly grated nutmeg, coriander seeds and ground white pepper.
Bring to a simmer, add another pinch of charcoal salt and cook for 10-15 minutes. You want the liquid to reduce slightly but not have a completely dry mix. Add another splash of veg stock if needed.
Meanwhile, peel and chop the swede into small pieces, add to a saucepan and cover with water. Add a pinch of salt and boil until soft, 10-15 minutes.
In a separate pan, peel and chop the potatoes into small pieces, cover with water and add a pinch of salt. Boil until soft, 10-15 minutes.
Drain the cooked swede, return to the pan, add 2 Tbsp vegan butter, a pinch of white pepper and mash. Taste and adjust the seasoning and set aside.
Keeping the potatoes in their separate pan, repeat as above with the potatoes.
Once the lentil and mushroom mix has simmered, slurry the cornflour in a small amount of water, add to the pan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.
Simmer and cook out the cornflour for 2-3 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
Taste and adjust the seasoning with charcoal, turn off the heat and set aside.
Assemble the pie by spooning the lentil mix into the bottom of a roasting dish or tray, top with alternating spoons of mashed potatoes and swede until the entire mix is covered.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 25-30 minutes.
