Homemade Lentil cottage pie

This was a tad of a challenge today making an attempt with a cottage pie - but it is vegetarian so it eases the anxiety when coming to prepare it and cook it. I made it early in the morning also to get it out of the way and I was very eager to use my new piping bag to create a neat finish to my pie like all those professional chefs =]

Lentil Cottage Pie - courtesy of taste.au

• 
  Adapted recipe:
  Ingredients
  1 onion, finely chopped2 celery stalks, chopped1 large carrot, chopped2 garlic cloves, crushed250ml tomato passata 1 bay leaf1 tsp dried thyme250ml vegetable stock400g can green lentils, rinsed, drained800g potatoes, peeled, chopped125ml Skim milk10g cottage cheese (topping)
  
  Method:
  

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. In a large pan, cook onion for 1-2 minutes. Add celery, carrot and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add passata, bay, thyme and stock.
2. Simmer gently for 15 minutes until vegetables are cooked. Stir in lentils and season, then transfer to a 1.2-litre baking dish. Meanwhile, cook potatoes in a steamer until tender.
3. Drain and mash. Stir in milk. Pipe over lentil mixture and bake for 15 minutes or until bubbling and golden.

• 10g Cottage