This great and tasty vegetarian dish is slightly adapted from Bill Grangers cook book Easy. I made a blogpost back in 2012 of this great dish, but the photos then really did not make the dish justce so I decided to redo the post. I have served this cottage pie numerous of times on meatfree days, we absolutley love it.
Vegetarian cottage pie
4 servings
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinley sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red chili, finely chopped
2 tsp Ras el hanout
1 (16 oz) can chopped tomatoes
1 (16 oz) can chickpeas, drain and rinsed
1 cup chicken stock
2 tsp sugar
7 oz baby spinach leaves
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced
3 oz butter, melted
1/3 -1/2 cup milk, heated
1 tbsp cilantro
1 oz fresh breadcrumbs
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 400 F
Bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Add the potatoes and cook for 20-30 min until tender.
Meanwhile make the chickpea stew.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over low heat and fry the for the onion for about 10 minutes until soft.
Add the garlic, chili and ras el hanout, fry 1 minute. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, stock and sugar
and season well with salt and pepper. Simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes, stiring a few times.
Add the spinach leaves to wilt.
Drain and return potatoes to the pan. Heat milk an butter. Mash potatoes with a fork and with an electric mixer
pour in the milk/butter, a little at the time and mix until fluffy. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon the mixture into a ovenproof dish. Eather 4 individuell dishes of 4 inches, or one larger dish.
Top each dish with the mashed potatoes.
Mix cilantro, breadcrumbs and parmesan in a small bowl and sprinkle over the top of each dish.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden and serve immediately.
4 servings
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinley sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red chili, finely chopped
2 tsp Ras el hanout
1 (16 oz) can chopped tomatoes
1 (16 oz) can chickpeas, drain and rinsed
1 cup chicken stock
2 tsp sugar
7 oz baby spinach leaves
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced
3 oz butter, melted
1/3 -1/2 cup milk, heated
1 tbsp cilantro
1 oz fresh breadcrumbs
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 400 F
Bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Add the potatoes and cook for 20-30 min until tender.
Meanwhile make the chickpea stew.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over low heat and fry the for the onion for about 10 minutes until soft.
Add the garlic, chili and ras el hanout, fry 1 minute. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, stock and sugar
and season well with salt and pepper. Simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes, stiring a few times.
Add the spinach leaves to wilt.
Drain and return potatoes to the pan. Heat milk an butter. Mash potatoes with a fork and with an electric mixer
pour in the milk/butter, a little at the time and mix until fluffy. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon the mixture into a ovenproof dish. Eather 4 individuell dishes of 4 inches, or one larger dish.
Top each dish with the mashed potatoes.
Mix cilantro, breadcrumbs and parmesan in a small bowl and sprinkle over the top of each dish.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden and serve immediately.
Ras el hanout is a spice mix from North Africa. It plays a similar role in North African cuisine as garam masala does in
Indian cuisine. The name is Arabic for "head of the shop" and implies a mixture of the best spices the seller has to offer.
There is no definitive composition of spices that makes up ras el hanout. Each family may have their own blend.
The mixture usually consists of over a dozen spices. Commonly used ingredients include cardamom, cumin, clove, cinnamon nutmeg, mace, allspice, dry ginger, chili peppers, coriander seed, peppercorn, sweet and hot paprika, fenugreek, and dry
turmeric.
Indian cuisine. The name is Arabic for "head of the shop" and implies a mixture of the best spices the seller has to offer.
There is no definitive composition of spices that makes up ras el hanout. Each family may have their own blend.
The mixture usually consists of over a dozen spices. Commonly used ingredients include cardamom, cumin, clove, cinnamon nutmeg, mace, allspice, dry ginger, chili peppers, coriander seed, peppercorn, sweet and hot paprika, fenugreek, and dry
turmeric.