Tempeh shepherd’s pie
A savory filling of crumbled tempeh, carrots and peas in a rich, herby gravy under a blanket of fluffy mashed potatoes, baked until golden, and it freezes beautifully.
- 85 min total
- 45 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 6
- About $2.48 a serving
- 410 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 4 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 packages tempeh, crumbled
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1½ cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ½ cup unsweetened soy milk
From your pantry
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp dried rosemary
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 410 calories, 22 g protein, 46 g carbs and 18 g fat, and costs about $2.48 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No russet potatoes? Yukon Gold potatoes work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No frozen peas? Frozen mixed vegetables work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 400°F. Put the potatoes in a large pot, cover them with cold water by an inch, add 1 teaspoon salt, and over high heat.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
about 15 minutes, until a fork slides into a chunk with no resistance.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
High heatTimer: 15 min
Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring now and then, about 8 minutes, until soft.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 8 min
Add the tempeh and cook about 5 minutes, stirring, until lightly .
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Stir in the garlic, tomato paste, flour, thyme, rosemary and pepper and cook 1 minute, until the flour disappears.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Pour in the broth and soy sauce and 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until it into a gravy. Stir in the peas and spread the filling in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: The gravy should coat the back of a spoon. It thickens more in the oven.the potatoes and mash them in the pot with the olive oil, the soy milk and 1 teaspoon salt until fluffy.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Dolly’s tip: Mash while they’re steaming hot. Cold potatoes turn gluey.Spread the mash over the filling all the way to the edges and rough up the top with a fork.
Dolly’s tip: The little ridges from the fork are what turn golden and crisp.25 minutes, until the top is and the filling bubbles at the edges.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 25 min
Let it 10 minutes before you scoop it out, so the filling can set.
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Timer: 10 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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