Lentil Shepherd's Pie

It’s absolutely freezing in Melbourne this week (despite me looking out the window at the beautiful sunny day), and although I love soups as a pescetarian I am always looking for a hearty, meat-free dinner to warm me up on weeks like this. Soup is good, as are curries, but this Lentil Shepherd’s Pie is one of my favourites.

This was the first time I’d made it in many years as Alexander has made it very clear that he doesn’t like ‘beans’ (lentils come under that category for him) and I don’t really have the time or energy to make separate dinners these days. The plan? I had a left over meat patty from the night before which I was going to warm for him and pop some of the mash and cheese from the pie on top for his own version.

Despite him not being 100% sure of exactly what it was (listen to the video at the end of this post with the sound up…), he ended up loving it!

Lentil Shepherd’s Pie is back on the menu - happy days for me.

If you’re vegetarian and/or coeliac, this recipe is also a great option for you. If you’re vegan, simply replace the cheese and butter in the mash with a vegan alternative.

Lentil Shepherd’s Pie
Serves 6

Ingredients
- 2 brown onions, peeled and diced
- 3 large carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 250g of button mushrooms, washed and sliced
- 3 tbsp of olive oil
- 3 tbsp of tomato paste
- 1 400gm can of diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp of soy sauce or tamari
- 1 heaped tbsp of hoi sin sauce
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 425gm cans of brown lentils, drained and rinsed

For the mash
- 4 small white potatoes (or 2 large), peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp of butter (or dairy free alternative)
- Splash of milk of your choice
- 1 cup of grated tasty cheese (or dairy free alternative)

Method
1. In a large saucepan, place the olive oil, onions and carrots on a medium heat and cook until the onions are translucent.

2. Add the garlic, mushrooms and tomato paste and stir for 30 seconds.

3. Add the canned tomatoes then fill the can with water and add that too. Then add the soy sauce, hoi sin, bay leaves and lentils. Bring to the boil before reducing to a simmer.

4. Cook the mix stirring often for at least an hour, or until it reduces to a thick, stew-like consistency (if this happens to quickly add some more water - you want it to cook for a while to develop the flavours). Make sure you scrape down any dried saucy patches on the walls of the pot.

5. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in salted water until soft. Drain, return to the pot and mash with the butter, before adding the milk and stirring well. Set aside.

6. When the lentil pie mix is ready, spoon it into a deep baking dish (I used one that was 20x30cm) and top with the mashed potato. It can be stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours until it’s ready to cook.

7. When you’re ready to cook, pop it in the oven at 190c for about 45 minutes or until warmed through. 10 minutes before you’re ready to take it out, sprinkle the cheese on top (I like to put it under the grill for 5 minutes too to make it extra melted and delicious).

8. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

I hope you enjoy it like Alexander did…

… despite, as you can hear above, him thinking it may have been something else (which he usually doesn’t like eating anyway!)

Stay warm,

Nat x

Vegetable Quiche

With very little time and very few groceries for dinner late last week, I pulled out the almost-unusable bag of fresh spinach that had been forgotten in the bottom of my fridge, the one red onion I’d been saving for a paella I never got around to making and the sweet potato hiding behind it and came up with this little quiche (which I would say was surprisingly tasty, but it contains everyone’s beloved Meredith Goats Cheese, so it’s not really a surprise that it was delicious at all.

In true my-son-now-goes-to-kinder mode, I don’t have much time to write this recipe before picking him up either, so I best get to it.

Vegetable Quiche

Ingredients
- 2 Sheets puff pastry
- 1 large roast potato, diced and roasted
- 1 red onion, diced
- 2  handfuls of fresh spinach, roughly chopped (cook with onion)
- 4 eggs, whisked
- 1/3 of a cup of full cream milk
- 4 cubes Meredith feta, broken into smaller pieces.
- salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Line a 25cm Quiche tin with removable base with the thawed puff pastry. Cover with baking paper (and the edges with foil to avoid overcooking later, if you like), fill with pie weights or dried beans and blind bake for 20-30 minutes or until the base starts to cook.

2. In a small frying pan, cook the onion until translucent, then add the spinach and cook until wilted. Allow to cook completely.

3. In a large bowl, combine the onion and spinach mix, roasted sweet potato, eggs, milk and feta. Season with salt and pepper and pour into the cooled pastry crust.

4. Bake at 160c for 25-30 minutes or until the centre of the quiche has set. Allow to cool completely (or overnight in the fridge) before serving.

Makes a beautiful made-the-day-before dinner, too!

Nat x

Pumpkin, Lentil & Cabbage Soup

Years and years ago, flicking through an old magazine at Mum and Dad’s (which I can’t imagine finding now as my parents don’t really read magazines), I remember seeing fenugreek powder and fennel seeds in a soup recipe with pumpkin and lentils. At the time having received fenugreek powder as a part of a gift in a kind of food hamper, I was excited to discover a way I could use it. I was probably about 22, still working an office job and hadn’t yet realised how important food would be in my life.

Although this recipe doesn’t contain fenugreek powder as it’s much harder to come by than fennel seeds (which are readily available in supermarkets), I’ve been making what I think is a version of this soup ever since.

Pumpkin, Lentil & Cabbage Soup - Natalie Zee

With only eight ingredients, most of which I usually have at home anyway, and perfect for freezing, this has become a favourite soup of mine over the years (alongside my beloved Minestrone and Carrot & Potato Soup). It’s not Alexander’s favourite so I often make it to freeze in batches, pulling it out when the boys are eating meat. (For those new here, I do not eat meat but I do cook it for them).

Pumpkin, Lentil & Cabbage Soup
(with Fennel)

Ingredients
- 1/2 a small cabbage, roughly shredded
- 1kg of diced pumpkin
- 3 tsp of fennel seeds, ground into a rough powder (I use a mortar and pestle)
- 1 large leek, washed, halved and sliced
- 1 and a 1/2 cups of green/brown lentils, rinsed
- 2 cups of vegetable stock (chicken would also work)
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 2 tbsp of olive oil

Method
1. In a large saucepan, cook the leek in butter and oil until it begins to caramelise.

2. Add the fennel seeds and cabbage. Cook, stirring until the cabbage is well wilted (3-5 minutes, for me).

3. Add the pumpkin, lentils, stock and enough water to cover. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer>

4. Once the pumpkin is cooked and the lentils are just tender, season with salt and serve immediately.

Pumpkin, Lentil & Cabbage Soup - Natalie Zee

It’s delicious served with fresh crusty bread, but I really would say that of almost any soup.

Pumpkin, Lentil & Cabbage Soup Recipe Card for Pinterest - Natalie Zee

Pumpkin, Lentil & Cabbage Soup- Natalie Zee

You could make it a vegan soup by omitting the butter or using vegan butter, but the butter really does add a delicious flavour to the leeks so unless you’re vegan I would encourage you to use it (adding more wouldn’t hurt, either!).

Let me know if you try it and, well, happy Winter!

Nat xx

My Favourite Roll (Egg Mash, Pickle & Swiss Cheese)

I did promise I’d be making simple recipes, and this is about as simple as it gets…

My love for this combination started during my pregnancy when, after the first 22 weeks passed and I could return to eating something that wasn’t pasta with peas and butter or plain pasta or ravioli (morning sickness was intense over here!), I was craving a baguette I’d had in the city a few times.

I couldn’t remember exactly what was in it beyond eggs, pickles and Swiss cheese - the Swiss cheese was firmest in my memory as before pregnancy I absolutely despised Swiss cheese in any form from anywhere. Suddenly, as pregnancy goes, I HAD to have as much Swiss cheese as possible. And I wanted it with mayonnaise.

Enter my new almost-daily pregnancy lunch, as still regularly enjoyed lunch to this day - my Egg, Pickle and Swiss Cheese Roll.

Egg, Pickle & Swiss Cheese Roll.

It’s a very simple combination but incredibly delicious (trust me). It doesn’t really warrant a true written recipe, but here are the key elements;

- Crusty but soft bread (I like a french stick or baguette best and find sourdough too strong for it).
- 1 tbsp of Kewpie Mayonnaise to every 1 hard boiled egg. I use one egg per person and season with salt.
- Sweet Sandwich Pickles (I use ‘Sandwich Stackers’ from the supermarket - it doesn’t taste the same with the lower-sugar pickles)
- Good quality Swiss Cheese (I use Jarlsberg and love to buy the slices, even through they’re infinitely more expensive, I find something strangely luxurious about pre-sliced cheese).
- Lashings of good quality, unsalted butter (I’ve been using Mainland Buttersoft spreadable butter for years, but any good butter will do the trick - just don’t be shy with it, it’s important here!).

How you layer it is really your business, but I go butter-egg-pickles-cheese. I’m always hesitant to recommend how to layer a sandwich/roll/burger as my hubby worked at McDonald’s as a first job and used to correct me on how I layered things when we first started living together over a decade ago. But I do find the butter stops the egg soaking into the bread if you do happen to be packing it up for a picnic, and the cheese stops the pickles on top. So it works for me.

I can’t offer a variation on this sandwich as I believe this is perfect as it is. But if egg, pickles or kewpie aren’t your thing, maybe it’s not the recipe for you.

However if Swiss Cheese isn’t your thing, I’d still encourage you to give it a go. Especially if you’re pregnant…

Nat x

Carrot & Potato Soup

I was originally saving this soup recipe for the cooler weather but hey, it’s Autumn in Melbourne now and seeing as I love soup in any weather anyway, I’ve decided to share it (especially as I’ve been doing some planning and don’t have a whole lot of new recipes ready to go).

The best thing about this soup, for me, is that I almost always have all of the ingredients in the house. The fresh coriander on top is delicious, but it can be left out (chilli flakes or sauce is also yummy), and if you don’t keep fresh ginger in the house that might change if, like me, you learn that keeping a knob in the freezer and just grated off what you need on a micro-plane (skin and all, it’s fine!) is an option.

(….. I found learning I could freeze ginger life changing but at the risk of this freezing ginger business actually being news to no one, I’ll play down just how excited I was learning this a few years ago).

CARROT & POTATO SOUP

Ingredients;
- 3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
- 6 large (or 8 small) carrots, peeled and sliced into thick disks
- 1 tbsp of fresh ginger, grated
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- A bunch of fresh coriander, stems removed and roughly chopped (if you’re a coriander hater, you can leave it out, but it really is so delicious with it!)
- 2 tbsp of cumin powder
- 3 cups of vegetable stock (chicken stock also works well, as does water if you have no stock – you’ll just want extra seasoning at the end).
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- Greek yoghurt or sour cream, to serve

Method;
1.  In a medium saucepan, add the olive oil, garlic, ginger and coriander stems and cook on a medium heat until fragrant.

2.  Add the cumin powder, carrots and potatoes and stir for 30 seconds to coat.

3.  Add all of the stock and bring to the boil.

4  Simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the carrots and potatoes are tender (a skewer should go through both with no resistance).

5.  Turn off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before blending. 

6.  Season to taste and serve with Greek yoghurt or sour cream, and fresh coriander leaves on top.


How I serve this to my 2yo;

He used to love soup and when he did, I used to add some red lentils to this recipe (with some extra stock) for protein and serve it with buttery toast soldiers. Red lentils are a great addition anyway for a more filling soup for everyone.

Now that soup is no longer and acceptable meal, I pull out some of the carrot and potato before blending, chop it up and serve it with butter toast and a protein (usually a boiled egg) and a little of the soup as ‘sauce’.  I always pop some fresh coriander, usually a long stem, on the plate too – he occasionally picks it up for a bite, but rarely twice in the same sitting.

PS. It freezes really well so I love to make this one as a part of a batch cook on a weekend (also a great soup to batch cook for someone in need and, without the yoghurt on top, it’s gluten free and vegan).

Nat x

GREEN SOUP

Prior to working under my own name, I used to go by ‘Healthy Natty’. I say it like it was 100 years ago but I think it was actually, oh, two?

I changed the name not only because I wanted to be taken more seriously as a photographer and not so much a blogger/influencer (I have no problem with these things, and I am guessing you can be both, now), but also because I hated the connotation of the word ‘Healthy’. I’d started sending back recipes ideas that contained sugar or butter for quotes and, occasionally, get replies along the lines of, ‘Oh, I thought you were ‘Healthy’ ?.

Healthy, to me, has always been as simple as listening to your body.

When my body says, ‘Eat loads of pasta with lashings of parmesan and a big glass of delicious red wine’, I never say no.

When, on a day I planned to do some exercise, my body feels tired and it’s extra difficult to get out of bed, I never ignore it. I would never, on that day, force myself out of bed and into the cold for a run.

And when my body says ‘I think I’d like some green veggies now’, I almost always make a version of this…

GREEN SOUP

Ingredients

- 2 x heads of broccoli, roughly chopped
- 1 small bag of frozen peas
- 1 small bag of spinach
- 2 zucchinis, roughly chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1-2 tsps of ground cumin
- 1-2 cups of stock (I used vegetable).
- Greek yoghurt or sour cream, fresh herbs, croutons and salt and pepper to serve

Method

Add all of the ingredients, except the yoghurt, to a pot and boil, lid on adding a little water if needed - but not too much as to not make the soup too watery. Sometimes I do this by accident and scoop a little water out before blending it up, but if you keep the pot on and stir regularly the top veggies will steam as the others boil.

Blend it up, season and serve with yoghurt, cream, fresh herbs or as I have here, crumbled mini-toasts in the absence of croutons (I love using left over mini toasts or crackers for this as to not waste them).

Variations
- Fresh herbs like basil, parsley and mint are delicious. I don’t add cumin when using fresh herbs (and with basil a few black olives thrown in is super tasty).
- If you have asparagus, green beans, frozen green veg or even lettuce - throw it in. This is the best soup for those vegetables from 3 weeks ago when you swore you’d eat more green veg… cauli works well, too.
- Parmesan, chilli or lemon (or combined!) stirred through at the end is delicious!

I hope, on those ‘I need more veggies’ days, you find this as nourishing as I do.


And before I leave I want to mention that listening to my body, to me, is not just about the physical but SO much about the mental and emotional. Not just where food is concerned (I truly believe a big bowl of pasta helps both my mental and emotional health, too), but, especially since becoming a Mum and through this insane pandemic, I’ve found it really important to stop listening to what everyone else thinks I should be doing for my health (Face masks! Exercise gently! Read more! Yoga!), and look inside myself for what I need.

Sometimes, what I need, is help figuring what I need out, and that’s OK. But I no longer find it OK to be told, by anyone, what it is I need for my own health.

Does that make sense?

I hope so.

Nat x

BAKED BEANS

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to escape to the country for a mostly wine/lots of fire/sometimes hiking weekend.  Perfect Winter formula.

Then, on the way home, we stopped at a cute little cafe for some lunch and a final chat and laugh. I ordered baked beans, and went home that night to make them (in a giant batch to enjoy all week).

I thought I'd share what I include in my baked beans;

BAKED BEANS
Makes - loads!  OK, just use less beans to reduce the amount.

Ingredients;
- 2 onions, peeled and diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 3 sticks of celery, washed and roughly chopped (reserve leaves, too)
- 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 can of cannelini beans, rinsed and drained.
- 1/2 a tsp of chilli flakes
- A pinch of cayenne pepper (obviously remove this and the chilli if you don't like hot)
- 1 tsp of smoked paprika
- 3 tbsp of tomato paste/puree
- 1 can of good quality crushed tomatoes
- 2-3 tbsp of olive oil

(Simple) Method;
1.  Fry the onions and celery in the olive oil until it starts to go golden, stirring frequently.
2.  Add the garlic, chilli flakes, cayenne pepper and paprika and stir for another minute.
3.  Add the chickpeas and tomato paste.  Stir for a further minute.
4.  Add the crushed tomatoes and enough water to cover the mix.  Allow to come to the boil.
5.  Simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the sauce begins to thicken.
6.  Add the cannelini beans and cook for 5-10 minutes more.
7.  Stir through the reserved celery leaves and season to taste.

So easy!  Though not technically baked.

Delicious with crumbled feta, or even a little lemon zest on top.

And definitely with buttery bread!

If you missed the building of this scene, take a look at the 'BTS' story highlights on my Insta.  I forgot to take other behind the scenes photos because last week was insane.

Let me know if you give them a go!

Nat x

 

'MINESTRA'

I love Minestrone.  When I was a child, I am told I would eat two big bowls of it (while my little brother had to be distracted by playing with boats in a water tub because he hated all things except peanut butter sandwiches without crusts and mashed potato).  As an adult?  I do the same.

Everyone has their own minestrone recipe, and truthfully, I never do the same thing twice and believe Minestrone can be made out of the vegetables that haven't been used yet at the end of the week (I endorse this fully, less waste!), but this recipe is my ideal situation and my perfect mix.

The only 100% necessary constant for me?  Pumpkin.  And the soup MUST be cooked until the pumpkin has disintegrated to make it thick and decadent.

Yes, vegetables in soup is decadent to me.  

So here it is - my Minestrone, or, as Nonna calls it, 'Minestra'

(stay tuned for the behind the scenes snaps & styling tips at the bottom).

The best part about Minestrone?  

It's all chop-chop-chop and throw in a pot.

NATALIE'S MINESTRA

You will need;
- 1/2 a medium sized pumpkin, chopped into small-ish cubes
- 1 large white potato, diced larger than the pumpkin
- 2 sticks of celery, sliced
- 1/4 of a cabbage, shredded roughly (with a knife will do)
- 1 head of broccoli, chopped roughly (including stem)
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 can of the best quality crushed tomatoes you can get
- About 150gms of pasta of your choice (my choice?  Always thin spaghetti).
- 1 can of cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- Fresh herbs (oregano or basil) or dried oregano.
- Parmesan cheese, and the rind if possible (or this is a great time to use that left over rind).

To make it;
1. Pop all of the ingredients except for the chickpeas and pasta in a pot and top with water.  Include your parmesan rind too, if you have one.

2.  Bring to the boil and then simmer - most likely for about 90 minutes, or until the pumpkin is mushy (important!).

3.  Add the chickpeas and pasta (and a little extra water, if needed, as the pasta will absorb a lot), and cook until the pasta is al dente (or, 'all dental', if my spell check is to be trusted).

4.  To serve, season to taste and top with even more parmesan cheese, grated on top.

(My Nonna likes to make it with a fresh chilli inside so the heat works through the soup, which is delicious, but the chillies I have at the moment are too hot for it!)
 

I thought it would also be fun to start sharing a few behind the scenes snaps (just from my phone, nothing fancy), with each post.  So, see below (and you're always welcome to ask me questions via Insta DM or email - natalie@nataliezee.com, and I'll do my best to answer them in future posts).

And finally, as I'm not into eating cold food, and therefore super passionate about photographing food the day after (as this was), my top tip for photographing soup the day after without having to heat it?

Mix extra water through it to get it's warmed consistency before you put it in the bowls, and once it's in the bowl, spray the top with water if anything looks a bit dry.

(I'll be sharing more tips on my newsletter over coming months - if you'd like to be included, head here).

Don't forget to tag me (@natalie.zee) or email me if you give this recipe a try, I'd love to see it & share it on my stories!

And what were the three ingredients not pictured?  Canned tomatoes, cheese rind & chickpeas!

Thanks for reading,

Nat x
 

15 MINUTE RAVIOLI / M'S WORK LUNCH

This recipe?  SO simple, that I'm not even sure it's worth posting (well, I wasn't, but here I am).  

But then you, online and offline, told me that you would never have thought of it and it WAS worth sharing, kind of like my 3-ingredient satay hack (which I will also share soon).

So here I am, back and blogging, in more of a personal style rather than a 'May put in recipe book one day' style, and I like it because I love writing and sharing and I genuinely LOVE what I do.  So in a world of 'wtf is going on with insta?', I am focusing my energy elsewhere.

Including my mailing list which will start up again this month (and you can subscribe to here).

For now?  M's lunch from this week - super, duper, simple ravioli.

 

The beautiful bowl?  Clay Bee Hive

TO MAKE THIS RAVIOLI...

You need;
- a 500g packet of your favourite ravioli (these are beef, because M rarely gets meat at home!)
- 1 cup of good-quality flavoured passata (I used Mutti 'Simply Sugo' Basil & Onion)
- 2 zucchini, roughly chopped (or peas, or any other vegetable!)
- A handful of torn fresh oregano or basil
- A handful of fresh spinach
- Parmesan or pecorino cheese (optional, but so highly recommended)

Then you simply;
- Boil the ravioli as per packet instructions, adding your zucchini/other vegetable half way through.
- Drain the pasta and put the passata/sugo in the pot with a splash of water.  Cook it for a minute or two.
- Add the pasta back into the pot with the spinach and fresh herbs and stir, on super low heat, for 1 minute or until the spinach has wilted.
- Pop into 4 containers and top with cheese.

That's it!

I love adding onion and garlic at home (just fry off on the pan quickly after the pasta is removed in a little olive oil then add everything back in), but the last thing M, or anyone else needs to do in an office, is eat garlic or onion.

And as for it not being a high-protein low-carb power lunch with quinoa and chia seeds and sweet potato only?  Well, we like pasta (and a big part of the reason I changed my name from 'Healthy Natty' is because some people thought, as a 'healthy' person, I shouldn't?).

Thanks for reading!  & be sure to share it on Insta (tag/message/send off a flare so I don't miss it and can share it!) if you give it a go.

I'll be sharing my Minestrone recipe next week, so I'd be super-honoured if you stay tuned.

Chat then,
Nat x