A Lovely Lentil & Spinach pie

I can’t take the credit for this lentil and spinach pie, it’s a recipe from Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries II. Such a gorgeous book full of lovely simple recipes and one I often use. You can find the original recipe here on the Guardian website but I recommend you check out Nigel’s website too as its just fabulous.

Here’s my slightly tweaked & halved version for 3 (or 2 greedy people).

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion
• 1 large carrot
• Rapeseed oil – I use and love local suppliers Cotswold Gold. Find out more about them in this previous post.
• Half a stick of celery
• 175g mushrooms (I used chestnut)
• 1 large clove of garlic
• 1 bay leaf & 2 sprigs of thyme
• 250g lentils (I used dried but Nigel suggests jarred)
• Vegetable stock 250g
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 250g Spinach for pie & 50g for topping
• 500g floury potatoes peeled for topping
• 40g butter
• A handful of grated mature cheddar.

Method:

• Soften diced onion, carrot and celery in a heavy bottom pan (such as a cast iron casserole) for about 10 minutes or until they are almost tender. 
• Finely dice the mushrooms and add to the pan. After 5 minutes, add crushed garlic, the bay leaf and thyme. 
• If you’re using bottled lentils, add them now with their liquid, if you’re using dried lentils, boil and drain first, then add a couple of ladles of extra stock. Stir briefly, and add the stock. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer for around 15 minutes. 
• Season with salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar to taste.
• Boil your peeled, chopped potatoes in salted water for about 20 minutes until tender. Mash with the butter until light and fluffy.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Wash the spinach and tear any large leaves. Whilst they are wet, steam around three quarters in a pan with a lid on, for a few minutes till they start to collapse.
• Cool the spinach under a cold tap and wring as much of the liquid out as you can then stir into the lentils. (Don’t add the spinach raw to the lentils: the leaves will produce a lot of water and you’ll be left with lentil soup.) Mix the rest of the uncooked spinach into the mash.
• Using an oven dish (like a lasagne or pie dish) put the lentils in and add the potato as a topping. Bake for 45 minutes then sprinkle with grated cheese and leave for 10 more mins until the top is nicely browned!