Coming up I'm gonna turbo charge veg in a game-changing cottage pie
I want a nice large casserole pan on a medium heat. So add yourself a couple of tablespoons of nice
olive oil and then some rosemary, three sprigs is all you want. Now we're gonna do two things
The first thing is we're gonna flavour that oil. Secondly we're gonna make these soft woody herbs
crispy and snappy and we'll sprinkle them over the finished cottage pie
and it will blow your mind. After just one minute remove the rosemary, now we can ramp up the root
veg by coating them in that lovely flavoured oil starting with three hacked up carrots
and half a swede swede has an amazing sweet, delicious flavour. It adds so much to a nice cottage
pie and then half a celeriac. Now the celeriac has deep, hearty flavours. Especially if you roast
it or cook it in this way in flavoured oil. It's got a kind of celery flavour, it's a bit mushroomy
and so many people have never ever tried it. Last veggie, two beautiful washed leeks and you get
some amazing sweetness from this. What's really brilliant is each one of these veggies tastes
very different and as we cook them they just get more intense and more delicious. But in the
wonderful world of making veggies taste incredible there's a few little tricks and one of them is
cumin. Just a little pinch of cumin seeds give a savouriness, a meatiness, a depth of flavour that's
phenomenal and here's the thing, right when you're clever about how you cook these veggies just like
you would meat right, when you respect it you can get comforting big deep sort of sumptuous flavours
that you're going to love. As that cooks for 30 minutes, kick off your mash by boiling 1.2 kilos
of potatoes in salted water. Now I want to show you an epic gravy to this cottage pie. Pop 10 grams of
dried porcini mushrooms in a blender with 600 millilitres of boiling water and leave to infuse
Of course when you dry things like mushrooms the depth of flavour that you're gonna get is amazing
Then add one red onion plus a teaspoon of marmite or vegemite, a great cheat to get
savoury seasoning. That little bit will make all the difference and then three tablespoons
of tomato puree. Give it a whiz but the best bit of this gravy is already in the pan
We've got sticky bits galore on the bottom, that's caramelisation and the minute this hits the pan
it will start deglazing the sticky bits. that's going to really give it flavour and
make incredible gravy. Now my final ingredient the tin of lentils and the brilliant thing about
lentils is they will cook away to nothing. They'll thicken it slightly to make it wonderfully meaty
Loosen with water and let it cook down for 20 minutes
Then mash the spuds with butter, seasoning and milk before topping your cottage pie
So just use a fork to let it rain random chunks of spuds. You wait this is going to be good
Whack in the oven for 30 minutes at 190 degrees celsius or 375 degrees fahrenheit
and that mega gravy will turn this meat-free cottage pie into a deep, hearty dinner.
Look at that. That my friends is a beautiful thing
and don't forget we had these little crispy bits of rosemary, proper delicious food. Absolutely
blooming gorgeous. Come on! And really nice served with some greens. Right, let's have a go
So...
That is extraordinarily delicious, wow. No compromise there but given the same
respect to the veggies as you would a cut of meat. It's given us the most
beautiful flavour. An absolute classic. What a brilliant way to celebrate vegetables.