Ingredients

• Ingredients · 2 tsp olive oil · 1 red onion · 6 cloves garlic · 250g chestnut mushrooms · 1 small carrot · 15g fresh rosemary, leaves picked · ½ tsp dried chilli flakes · 1 tsp each smoked paprika, ground cinnamon and coriander seeds · 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds · 125ml red wine · 2 tbsp red wine vinegar · 1 tbsp tamari/soy sauce (or a handful of olives) · 2 tbsp tomato purée · 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400g) plus ¼ tin water · 1 tin puy lentils (400g / drained weight 240g), rinsed · 250g spinach · 600g potatoes (I like to use Rooster potatoes) · To season: black pepper, nutritional yeast

Preparation

• Preparation Serves 4. Preheat the oven to 220°C / 425°F / Gas Mark 7. I use an enamel cast-iron casserole dish for this recipe, however you could just as easily prepare the sauce in a pan on the hob and transfer to an oven dish for baking. Puy lentils also go by the name of ‘Lentilles Vertes’ and can be found tinned, dried or vacuum packed in most supermarkets. Method Place a heavy-based casserole dish on the hob and heat the oil on a moderate to high heat. Chop the onion, garlic, mushrooms, carrot and rosemary leaves and add these to the oil, stirring. Leave to sauté for 5 minutes, or until the onions soften. Stir in the chilli flakes, smoked paprika, cinnamon, coriander seeds and pumpkin seeds, followed by the red wine, vinegar, tamari, tomato purée, chopped tomatoes and water. Simmer for 10 minutes. While this is bubbling away, slice the potatoes as thinly as you can. Now add the lentils, spinach and black pepper to the sauce and give it a good stir. Remove from the heat and arrange the potato slices to cover the dish in any pattern you like. If you are using nutritional yeast, sprinkle onto the potato topping. Cover the dish and cook in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes. The potatoes should be cooked through and nicely crisp. Serve with lovely steamed greens or a fresh salad.