1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C (fan)/ 425°F/ Gas 7. Boil a kettle. Peel and chop the potatoes into rough, bite-sized pieces.  Add the potatoes to a pot of boiled water with a pinch of salt, bring to the boil over a high heat and cook for 10-15 min or until fork-tender. Once cooked, drain and leave to steam dry.
2. Reboil a kettle. Peel and finely chop the brown onion. Top, tail, peel and finely dice the carrots. Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a drizzle of olive oil over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chopped onion and diced carrots with a pinch of salt and cook for 5-8 min or until softened slightly.
3. Meanwhile, peel and finely chop (or grate) the garlic. Chop the chestnut mushrooms into quarters (or rip them up with your hands to save time). Strip the thyme leaves from their stalks.
4. Once softened, add the chopped mushrooms, half of the chopped garlic (save the rest for later) and thyme leaves to the carrot and onion. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2 min. Meanwhile, drain and rinse the canned lentils. Dissolve the vegetable stock cube[s], tomato paste and Henderson’s Relish in 250ml boiled water – this is your tomato stock.
5. Add the lentils, tomato stock and a generous pinch of salt and pepper to the pan and reduce the heat to low – this is your lentil mixture. Return the potatoes to their pot over a low heat with a splash of milk and a knob of butter. Mash until smooth and season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
6. Pour the lentil mixture into the base of an oven-proof dish. Spread the mash evenly on top and grate the cheddar over the top. Put the dish in the oven and cook for 15-20 min or until golden and bubbling – this is your veggie shepherd’s pie. Meanwhile, rip the leaves off the spring greens, discard the tough stalks, then layer the leaves over each other, roll them up & slice into thin strips.
7. Heat a separate large, wide-based pan, heat a knob of butter and a drizzle of olive oil over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the remaining chopped garlic and the sliced spring greens with a pinch of salt. Cook for 4 min or until the spring greens are cooked with a slight bite – these are your garlicky spring greens.
8. Once cooked, remove the veggie shepherd’s pie from the oven and leave to stand for a few min as it will be extremely hot! (this will also help the flavours develop). Serve the veggie shepherd’s pie with the garlicky spring greens.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Please let me know if you try this and share your comments and photos with me across my social media;  Facebook, Twitter or Instagram

Happy munching.

Jen

@JensFoodBlog