Monday 13 January 2014

Vegetable Casserole. Anything but boring!

Come on, honestly, who doesn't love casserole?

I enjoy every kind of casserole so I made some on Sunday. Once you get the hang of it you'll see that it's so easy to make and requires no sauces that come pre-made in glasses or in bags. So today we're gonna be making some awesome vegetable casserole.



For two portions you'll need:
  • Brussels Sprouts
  • Mushrooms
  • 1 Carrot
  •  Leek
  •  Garlic
  •  Parsley
  •  20 g of Grana Padano or Parmesan

I added these ingredients cause I had them leftover from a Raclette-party on Friday:
  • 2 tbs of Sweet Corn
  • Bell Pepper

For the sauce we'll need:
  • 1 egg
  • Rama Cremefine (It's basically low fat, plant-based cream)
  • 1 tbs Crème légère with Herbs
  • 150 ml Milk
  • Water
  • Salt/herbs/spices


To start off, clean/peel/chop your vegetables, garlic and parsley. Add everything into a casserole-form one after the other.
Tipp: You can also use raw potatoes. Just be sure to cut them in small- or thin-enough pieces so they cook all the way trough. Also you can use pasta, just make sure you have enough liquid in the casserole.

 

Mix your vegetables up when you're done with the chopping and head over to the wet ingredients. 

Tipp: Casserole is awesome for leftovers. Just toss everything into one dish. 



Put the egg, one gulp of Rama Cremefine and 1 tbs of Crème légère into a mixing cup and stir properly. Afterwards ad milk and water, mix well. (For this amount of casserole you should have around 400-500 ml sauce-liquid.)

Thanks to the one egg the sauce will get "hard" and give the casserole it's consistency. So there's no need for pre-made sauce. If you want a firmer casserole feel free to add one more egg.
Now comes the important part: Adding spices and herbs to your sauce. Remember, the vegetables have no herbst or even salt on them. All the flavor will come from the sauce. So it's okay if it's a bit to salty and strong, it will all go into the vegetables.

I added salt, paprika-spice, dried rosemary - and a few drops of Worcestershire Sauce.



Tipp: This is where the magic happens. You can take the casserole any direction you like. Indian spices, italian or french herbs, it's up to your taste.

After all is mixed together and you reached the taste you want, pour the sauce over the vegetables and squish them down so the sauce covers everything.




Put the dish into the oven at 150 °C (Air circulation mode) and leave to cook for 30 minutes.

Grate up some delicious Grana Padano. DON'T use that awful pre-grated stuff.



30 Mines later: Doesn't this look amazing? All hot and bubbly, wow.




Press the vegetables down gently with a spatula so the sauce covers the top again. Now add the Grana Padano and put back into oven for another 15 Minutes. We add the cheese now so it won't burn.



After a total of 45 Minutes you will be rewarded with this amazing, tasteful vegetable casserole. Let it cool for a couple of moments. You will notice it shrinking a bit - that's what you want because it means the hot air escaped.




Voilà. I present to you vegetable casserole.


 
Tipp: In the pan you'll probably have a lot of liquid with pieces of egg floating in it when you take out the casserole. That's okay and normal. You have two options. One: Drink it! That's what I love to do. After all it's just a broth and it's full of flavor and seriously should not be wasted under any circumstances. The second option is to strain the  liquid. You'll be left with a broth you can freeze and add instead of artificial broth powder next time you need it.

I hope you like this dish as much as I do!


If you're using Weight Watchers: One portion or half of this casserole-dish has a mere 5 ProPoints.


Enjoy and be sexy,
Anna

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