Neither my beloved nor I are fans of cauliflower, but I have found a way of making it much more palatable by making it into ‘mince’ and using it in my cottage pie recipe.
1 onion diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 carrots diced
2 sticks of celery diced
½ head of cauliflower
1 celeriac peeled and roughly chopped
1 Can of green lentils, drained
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp of Herbs de Provence (or more according to taste)
1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil
salt and pepper
Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees C
Place your chopped celeriac in a pan of water, the water should just cover it and place on a medium heat, treat the celeriac as you would when you prepare potatoes for mashing.
Roughly chop your cauliflower into pieces and place in a food processor and pulse until the cauliflower looks like mince. For those who make their own cauliflower rice your ‘mince’ should look the same.
Place your oil in a lidded heavy bottomed pan and when hot sauté your onion until soft. Then add garlic and sauté until that too is soft. Add your carrots celery and cauliflower and cover sauté for a few minutes and then cover with lid. When the vegetables have started to soften but still have a little bite add your drained lentils, chopped tomatoes and Herbs de Provence. On a low heat let your pie filling simmer.
When your celeriac is cooked through and still holding its shape, drain and mash with a little vegan butter and season to taste.
Spoon your mix into a pie dish and top with your celeriac mash and bake on the middle shelf of your oven for around 20 mins or until the celeriac topping has turned a lovely golden brown.
If your not a fan of celeriac or you can’t get your hands on it, a potato topping is just as delicious. Equally a mixed topping of celeriac and potato is super delicious and the best of both worlds.