Anyone who follows my recipes will know I am a bit of a bake fanatic. So comforting and yummy and I usually incorporate my favourite béchamel sauce in it somewhere. This recipe got more elaborate the more I got involved, it's sort of a bastardised shepherd's pie. I didn't have any mince so went for brown lentils instead and dreaded the idea of mashing potatoes with a fork so decided on potato slices instead, then I decided to make it moussaka-like with my béchamel.
Like my other bakes I made more than enough for two otherwise it is a bit of hassle for less reward. Freeze the rest.
- 250 grams of dry lentils – brown or green
- 3 – 4 large potatoes
- 2 carrots
- 1 medium sized onion sliced
- 2 large tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 glasss of dry white wine
- Dried oregano
- Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper
- Bechamel sauce
Cook you lentils until soft, about 45 minutes to 1 hour
Parboil large potatoes halved, for about 10-15 minutes and then drain and leave to cool.
Fry the onion and carrots then add garlic and the tomatoes
Add your cooked lentils and a glass of dry white wine, reduce the wine
Add a tablespoon of tomato puree and half a mug of vegetable stock
Add some dried oregano and salt and pepper and a dash of Worcestershire sauce, simmer until thick
Make your béchamel, go here for the recipe.
Spread the lentils onto a baking tin, add half the béchamel then the potato slices. Add the rest of the béchamel, some sprigs of time and some salt and pepper
Cover and bake at 200°c for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender all the way through, then remove the foil and crisp up under a hot grill
Serve with a green salad
*If you don't want to bother with béchamel you could use cream instead
* If you pan is wide and shallow there will be one layer each of lentils and potato, but if you have a deeper tin you might need a more lasagna-like layered effect. If this is the case you might need to bake it a bit longer