Mushroom and Walnut Gardener’s Pie with Butternut Squash Topping Recipe - from the Jewish Food Hero Kitchen • Jewish Food Hero (2024)

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About Mushroom and Walnut Gardener’s Pie with Butternut Squash Topping

This plant-based Mushroom and Walnut Gardener’s Pie with Butternut Squash Topping Recipe is healthy take on a shepherd’s or cottage pie. This hearty and nourishing pie is filled with a bounty of vegetables. Even carnivores will be happy to eat this dish because it is full of bold flavour and plant-based protein. Better yet, it takes just 15 minutes to prepare the ingredients.

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About traditional Shepherd’s/Cottage Pie

Traditionally, dishes like this are made with meat and potatoes. The meat might be leftover from a roast and minced at home, or made from store bought minced beef of lamb. The pie filling is usually cooked with diced onions or leeks and garlic, small-diced carrots and mushrooms. The meat is usually flavoured with animal-based stock for added flavour. The topping is made with mashed potatoes with milk or cream and butter.

This Mushroom and Walnut Gardener’s Pie with Butternut Squash Topping Recipe is as satiating and warming as traditional versions, and significantly more healthy. It is extremely low fat, with only a minimal amount of olive oil used to saute the filling and create the rich, smooth topping. The mix of vegetables, mushrooms, walnuts and lentils gives a vibrant flavour to the filling. It is seasoned with soy and miso, giving a palette pleasing deep umami flavour. The butternut squash topping gives a vibrant orange contrast to the deep brown interior.

This Mushroom and Walnut Gardener’s Pie with Butternut Squash Topping Recipe is Kosher Pareve. To make it Kosher for Passover, replace the miso paste with 1 Tbsp of no sugar added kosher almond butter and use kosher-for-Passover lower soy sauce. Also, use almond milk/rice milk instead of oat milk. If you do not eat beans during Passover, you could try to use jackfruit to replace the lentils or sh*take mushrooms.

Miso paste:
This delicious kosher miso paste is perfect for this Mushroom and Walnut Gardener’s Pie with Butternut Squash Topping Recipe. Miso a Japanese ingredient used for seasoning. It is made from fermented soy beans, salt and koji, along with a variety of other ingredients. It can be fermented for months or even years.

Soy sauce:
This kosher soy sauce is top of the line. If you want to replace the soy, you can use this soy-free coconut aminos sauce.

Lentils:
Choose from red split lentils for a smoother, lighter flavour, or brown puy lentils for a more earthy flavour.

Butternut squash:
Substitute for any seasonal squash or pumpkin – the most important thing is it must be baked, not steamed or boiled or it will absorb too much water. You could mix the squash with your choice of potato, or go traditional and use all white potato for a crunchy topping.

Unsweetened oat milk:
Use store bought or make your own, it’s simple! Add 1 part oats to 4 parts water to a blender and blitz for 1 minute (no longer or it will go slimy). Strain through a nut milk bag, a cheesecloth or a clean t-shirt. There is a simple recipe here which would be a great place to start.