Shepard's Pie

Shepard's, or cottage pie is classic dish perfect for long cold winters. It was first introduced in the late 17 hundreds when potatoes became a sustainable food source for the poor. The word cottage refered to the small huts that the lower classed lived in. The structure of the pie consists of some sort of meat and vegetable filling cooking in a gravy then topped with a generous layer of mashed potatoes. Back then it may have been something that people ate of necessity, but today its a classic hearty meal that can be enjoyed by a warm fireplace.

In this vegan version of the pie, I replaced the meat with lentil and added mushrooms and soy sauce to give an umami flavor to the gravy. I also added nutritional yeast to the potatoes to give it a nice cheesy flavor. Overall this pie is delicious in its own right and would be a tasty dish to make.