Faux Mince

As a kid, i was bought up on good old english fare. My Mum was not a fancy cook but she could "do 101 things with mince". You name it, she'd have a recipe that involved mince.

I have finally found a way to make a veggie/vegan faux mince, which i really like and use to make all the recipes of my childhood, like cottage pie, savory mince, savory mince with dumplings, stuffed aubergines, stuffed peppers, any other stuffable veg, a very english mousaka etc.,

Its very easy too, healthier and even cheaper than "proper" mince! (Sorry, Mum).

There are two ways of cooking this and both are described below:

Method 1 - Panic Version - The "i've got nothing planned for dinner tonight and what am i going to have when i come home"?

Method 2 - Snug Version - The "i'm organised and cook in advance for the week at weekends"

Ingredients:
1 pack of dried lentils (i typically use green or brown ones that take 35 mins to cook)
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 large onion (red or white)
1 clove garlic
2 tins of red kindney beans
splosh of worcester sauce
splosh of soy or tamari sauce
squeeze of tomato puree
2 large teaspoons of good stock powder
Salt/Braggs Aminos and pepper
1 Large Carrot, finely chopped
1 Large pepper (any colour) finely chopped

Take a pack of dried lentils (you can wash them, but life is too short, cover with plenty of water and bring to boil on stove for 10 mins.

Whilst boiling you can either chop the veggies or throw them in a vita mix and blitz up. (If using the vita mix, i add an apple to sweeten the tomato sauce).

Add all other ingredients to the pan.

Cooking Method 1 - Put in a 160c oven covered for 1 hour.
Cooking Method 2 - simmer gently for about an hour

I tend to blend some of the mixture and add it back to the pan to thicken the mixture, Richard prefers it as is.

You can use this in place of mince in any of your favourite recipes.