Ingredients serves four

2 large carrots, roughly diced

2 sticks of celery, roughly diced

one large onion, roughly diced

900g (2lbs) potatoes, scrubbed and quartered

120 g (4 ounces) dried soya mince or TVP (I use the dark one with added caramel as it looks nicer)

a teaspoon of turmeric

a pinch of cumin

2 teaspoons of crushed dried chillies (optional)

a one inch (2 and a 1/2 cm) piece of ginger, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons of tomato puree

3 teaspoons of vegetable stock powder

a tablespoon of dark soy sauce

olive oil

salt and pepper

green vegetables to serve, (peas and spinach in the photo)








Method

Sweat the onion, carrots and celery on a low heat in a large pan until the onions soften (about 15 minutes).  Season with salt and pepper

Add the garlic and ginger and to the vegetables along with the turmeric, cumin and dried chillies if using

Boil the potatoes in salted water for about 15-20 minutes, until soft

Preheat the grill on a medium high setting

Add the soya mince, tomato paste, soy sauce, vegetable stock powder to the sweating vegetables, stir to coat.  Add a little water and turn up the heat and bring to the boil.  Add water a little at a time when its absorbed (some vegetable proteins are more absorbent than others).

Turn down the heat and simmer for a further 15 minutes or so until the carrots become tender.  Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary

In the meantime when the potatoes drop of a knife, drain (retaining the water to cook any vegetable accompaniment) and mash with olive oil and salt and pepper

Transfer the soya mixture into a large ovenproof dish and spoon the mashed potatoes on top.  Rake with a fork to make lines on top, spray or brush the top with oil and put under the grill for about 10 minutes to brown

(Serving suggestion:-In the meantime bring the potato water back to the boil, add your chosen vegetables and some more stock powder and when almost done reduce the heat and add a teaspoon of cornflour dissolved in a little cold water, serve the vegetables in their gravy (refrigerate or freeze any extra gravy for later) alongside the delicious pie)