18.11.08: Vegetable cottage pie

He picked up this recipe from the local Waitrose and proceeded to construct this vegetable pie. Hiding underneath the parsnip and apple mash topping was a quorn, carrot, onion, tomato, peas and redcurrant jelly filling. A side of grilled thinly sliced courgettes and baby sweetcorn stood by. Nestled next to it was a pear, beetroot and rocket salad.

HE SAYS: Unfortunately this pie looked a lot better on the recipe card then it tasted in person. Too, too sweet and the ingredients sort of clashed with one another. It was quite the undertaking to get this one to the table so my disappointment level was larger. The side of courgettes and baby sweetcorn was pretty nice and lifted my spirits somewhat, but there weren't enough of them to jettison the pie and treat them as the main part of the meal. Hot sauce did manage to pep the pie up at least to make it edible. Thankfully, the pear-beetroot combo was a treat in the salad portion of the programme.

SHE SAYS: Um, not so much, I'm afraid. It was edible enough I couldn't justify binning it, but it was not nice to work thru: as He says, a strange combo of sweet and bland, as well as stodgy and almost dry. Not the gravy-pie experience I was hoping for. This is the kind of dish that gives vegetarian food a bad name. It's not His fault, though - a closer look at the recipe shows this ickiness was inevitable.

The courgette and sweetcorn dish was surprisingly yummy, the olive oil adding depth to the roasty sweetness. Salad offered welcome freshness, though I was in no mood for more sweet stuff.