Moroccan Lentil Cottage Pie

So, I gleaned some tid bits of info from Jaimie Oliver about shepherd's pies.  One big thing, I think Americans do not realize is that the name shepherd's pie should only be used when using lamb as the meat in the dish.  Cottage pies are made with beef.  Who knew?  Not me. Here is his link if you want to check out some more details between the two...Jamie Oliver explains: Cottage Pie vs Shepherd's Pie.

I originally saw this dish idea from Our Four Forks and used ground beef.  Super delicious.  Their vegan option uses chickpeas.  I wanted to make some more adaptions, including using lentils.  Jaimie Oliver has a recipe using sweet potatoes and lentils but with a totally different flavor profile, that looks equally as delicious that I would like to try out soon.  My recipe uses chicken stock, so not vegan but you can make it vegan by just switching to veggie stock.  A word about the lentils.  I find that the green lentils hold up well in dishes like this.  They do not get mushy and hold their texture well.  You can also reduce the amount of dishes but cooking the lentil in an oven-safe dish.  Cook them on the stove top, then once the sweet potatoes are finished you can pop the dish in the oven to broil.  Here's my version, hope you like it!

The Ingredients:
6 cups sweet potatoes, big chunks
1 cup green lentils
2 cups yellow onion, diced
1 can 14.5 oz diced tomatoes
1/3 cup raisins
1 tablespoon honey
2/3 cup coconut milk, divided
2 1/2 - 3 cups stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Olive oil
Cilantro for garnish

The Steps:

1) Saute the onions in olive oil.  Turn the heat up to just above medium, until the onions have charred and are translucent.  This should only take about 3-4 minutes.  Then add all of your spices: cumin, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, paprika, chili and allow the spices to open up by cooking for about 1 minute.

2) Add in the tomatoes (include juice), honey, lentils, raisins, 1/3 cup coconut milk, and 2 1/2 cups stock.  As lentils are cooking, you may need to add up to 3 cups stock.  Turn heat up and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until lentils are tender...about 30-40 minutes. When the lentils are done cooking, add in 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.

3) While the lentils are cooking, get your sweet potato chunks cooking in boiling water.  Boil until potatoes are fork-tender...about 20-30 minutes.   

4) When the potatoes are done, add in 1/3 cup coconut milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a couple dashes of cinnamon and cumin.  Mash with a potato masher or with a hand mixer.

5) Lightly oil an oven safe dish and transfer the lentils, spreading evenly in the dish.  Or if you used an oven safe dish to cook then lentils, just make sure they are evenly spread.  Then spread the top of the mashed potatoes over the lentils and broil for about 3-5 minutes or until the top gets lightly toasted and lentils are bubbling.

6) If desired, garnish with fresh cilantro and serve up.