Lentil, Mushroom & Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

Recipe adapted from: thekitchn.com

Ingredients:

- 5 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed
- 1 cup brown or green lentils, washed and picked over
- 3/4 cup dry steel cut oats, gluten free
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound mushrooms, divided
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3/4 cup low-sodium vegetable stock
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning  
Preparation:
 
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prick each sweet potato several times with a fork and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until very soft to the touch. Set aside to cool.

In a medium pot, combine the lentils, oats, bay leaf and salt with 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until lentils are soft but not mushy, stirring occasionally to keep the oats from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Discard bay leaf and drain mixture into a colander.

While the lentils and oats are cooking, finely chop half of the mushrooms and set aside. Cut the remaining mushrooms into quarters. Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the quartered mushrooms and a pinch of salt and cook until browned and soft. Add the chopped mushrooms, onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and translucent. Lower heat to medium and add the lentil and oat mixture, followed by the vegetable stock, wine, tomato paste, soy sauce, paprika, and parsley. Taste and add salt if needed. Simmer mixture for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add a few grinds of black pepper.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel sweet potatoes with your hands and place in a medium bowl. Use a fork to mash them into a smooth paste and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Evenly spread the lentil mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish. (For thicker layers, use a 9x9-inch pan.) Spoon the sweet potato mixture on top and smooth with a spatula. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling at the edges.

Notes & Tips:
This is Gluten Free, Vegetarian and  from what I know it's Vegan too. I made this to take to a friend who is feeling under the weather, who is a gluten free eater. So I divided this into 2 round aluminum disposable baking dishes (I think they were the 9 inch ones). You could always add ground beef if you'd like to make it a meat dish. Mat and I try to eat meatless one meal a week so this was ours. I used my Tupperware Quick Chef Pro to chop all of the veggies. So quick and easy! This recipe can also be made in advance (just keep the filling and roasted sweet potato mash separate) until you're ready to assemble and bake. The original recipe also says it can be frozen unbaked (just bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees after thawing)!