Lentil Pot Pie with Pumpkin

My children love pies – and they ask for them all the time. However, these are not sweet pies or desserts they are hoping for – they are wanting a savory pie made with lentils, beans, vegetables and anything else on the go.

With all my years spent being either vegetarian or vegan, this was not a dish I had ever taken to much. I wonder if I had always associated pot pie with those little dishes that come from a factory with bits of chicken in them….

Having trained in those factories during my time as a Food Hygiene Inspector and again while completing my degrees in food and packaging – I would never have been drawn to eating them, making them or buying them. They kind of creeped me out....

But of course now when I am creating, making and cooking all our food from scratch, I know I can make pot pie with anything (and everything!) with some wonderfully delicious results.

Yesterday I had a huge pot of lentil stew ready – it kind of got away from me – as I had vegetables to use up and just kept loading them into the stock pot. After everyone had been well fed, I decided to use up the rest of the stew and make some pot pies – as a surprise.

After taking some of the liquid off – but not too much – I cooked even more vegetables (pumpkin and sautéd onions) to create a thicker filling. These were added to the deep dishes ready to be filled, I also buttered the inside of each dish a little before filling.

Next I covered the pumpkin mixture with scoops of the lentil stew until each dish was nearly full. After liberally salting and peppering over the top of the vegetables, it was ready for a crust. A thicker topping is something that seems to go very well with this type of dish as well. 

I was a bit dubious about how to go about this – I wanted it to lend a very savory flavour to each dish – mainly because the lentils are so earthy, so I made a bread with spelt flour, goat’s milk and water, lots of rosemary, thyme, baking soda and my homemade cinnamon mustard.

This was spooned over the top – and spread it out a little around the middle of the lentils – leaving room at the edges for the pie filling to bubble up.

I think it turned out very well – there’s nothing left!

April

Lentil Pot Pie with Pumpkin