Buckwheat Shepherd's Pie for Vegan Thursday- gluten free, soya free, suitable for Ekadasi

We served ours with a simple salad...

Hope you all had a lovely Krishna Janmasthami yesterday, and today's post is what we cooked that night for the feast. We follow Ekadasi rules on that day (no grains/ beans) so my husband had the idea to make a shepherd's pie with buckwheat and I had a go at making it. It's actually quite easy to do and on days other than Ekadasi, you could vary the vegetables in the filling and maybe add some herbs and tomato/ tomato puree. 

One of the nicest things about this recipe is the addition of cashew cream to the mashed potato (again, my husband's idea ), which adds the creaminess without the need for soya milk or margarine. Keep the skins on the potatoes; you get more nutrients and they encourage the top to turn crispy when baked. The recipe is under the next picture, and gives quantities to make about 8 servings and the basic proportions, but we have left the exact amounts of seasonings up to you.

This picture shows the filling better

1.3kg potatoes, diced but not peeled

3 cups whole buckwheat grains (we used the unroasted)

1 cup cashew cream (made by whizzing ground cashews and water together to about the consistency of double cream, with a little salt and lemon juice added)
400g courgettes, sliced in semicircles
olive oil for saute-ing
seasalt, black pepper and a little turmeric

• Cook the potatoes in a little water with the saucepan lid on - to preserve nutrients, try to get it so that all the water is absorbed by the time they are cooked.
• At the same time, cook the buckwheat in 6 cups of water, until completely soft. The water should all be absorbed too, just like when you cook rice.
• Meanwhile, saute the courgettes in the oil until soft but not browned, and add to the cooked buckwheat with a pinch of turmeric, some seasalt and a generous amount of black pepper. Add a little more liquid if necessary, to stop it going dry in the oven.
• When the filling is seasoned to your satisfaction, spoon it into a large, deep baking/ roasting tin or dish. 
• Now mash the potatoes for the topping. When smooth, stir in the cashew cream and season with seasalt.
• Spread the topping onto the filling, leaving it rough so that it crisps up in the oven, and bake in an oven preheated to 200C until heated through and browning slightly on top.