Moroccan Flavors Lentil, Spinach, and Sweet Potato Casserole

In keeping with my meal plan (see previous post) I started work on the Moroccan Shepherd’s Pie because I was having company for dinner.  I am a huge fan of shepherd’s pie… traditional sheperd’s pie… MY homemade shepherd’s pie.  I had to go into this knowing it was going to be nothing like my shepherd’s pie, so I dismissed those expectations immediately.  I decided to think of it in terms of the fact that “sheperd’s pie” traditionally represents peasant food… a mash-up, so to speak, of simple maybe even leftover, inexpensive ingredients.  So I was going to make and serve Moroccan flavored peasant food (in the end I ended up referring to it as “casserole”).

This recipe is adapted from a Forks of Knives cookbook (which I highly recommend… they also have a lot of great recipes on their website).

So here’s how *I* ended up doing the recipe:

Moroccan Flavors Lentil, Spinach, and Sweet Potato Casserole

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

Ingredients (spacing separates actions):

• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• A bit of broth for sautee’ing

• 6 garlic gloves, minced

• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 6 cups mushroom stock (or veggie stock)
• 2 cups of rinsed green lentils (those are the larger ones)

• 1½ pounds baby spinach (that’s 1½ of the large clamshell packages)

• Zest and juice of 2 large lemons

• 3 large sweet potatos (or yams), chopped into large cubes
• Cinnamon

Instructions:

I turned my Instant Pot to sautee and added the onion, celery, and carrots with a little broth to keep them from sticking. 

I stirred frequently for a minute or two then added the garlic and cooked, stirring, for another minute.

Then I threw in the spices (I had them at the ready, measured and combined in a small bowl), the broth, and the lentils… and turned the Instant Pot to manual cook for 12 minutes.

While that was cooking, I put the cubed sweet potato into a pot on the stove with enough water to cover the potatoes.  I added about three good shakes of cinnamon into the pot then turned it up high to let them boil until the potatoes were soft.  You’ll be mashing these so just cook them until they’re soft enough to mash.  When soft, I drained them in a colander in the sink, then put them back into the pan for mashing (why dirty another bowl/pan?).  I did add a little salt… and if they’re TOO stiff, you can add a little broth to soften them up.  You’ll be spreading this mixture on top of something very soft, so the mashed sweet potatoes need to be SOMEWHAT pliable.

When the Instant Pot is finished, I released the pressure immediately then opened the pot and added all the spinach in two batches.  It doesn’t all fit at once, even though I have an 8-quart IP, so put in as much as you can and mix it up with the hot lentils until it wilts enough that you can add the rest.  If you need more heat, just turn the sauté feature on for a minute or so.  I kept my IP in “warming” mode throughout this part.

When the spinach looks “cooked” enough, add the zest and juice of the lemons and mix thoroughly.  Then spread some of this mixture into the bottom of a casserole dish.  You can use 9x13… I used 8x8 because remember… toaster oven.

If you want a super thin crust of the topping, then the above recipe is a good ratio.  I like my “mashed potatoes” layer to be thicker so I put half of the lentil mix into the pan and freeze the other half to serve over rice at a later date.

Gently spoon the mashed sweet potatoes over the lentil mixture in the casserole dish.  When ready, put casserole dish into pre-heated 350 oven for 30 minutes (more if you were storing this in the fridge).  It doesn’t “slice” like a pie, but it scoops just fine (like a casserole).

I served the casserole with a salad of lettuce, tomato, onion, carrot, celery, and homemade ranch dressing.

If you try this recipe, come back and post in the comments. I'd love to hear from you!
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