Wednesday 25 June 2008

Cheesy veg bake

Hey even hardened omnivores like us need a meat-free meal from time -to-time. The cheesy veg bake is fairly regular for us. This one does away with making roux etc but you still end up with a pretty decent, creamy sauce. I can't remember whose recipe this was originally (in a newspaper, I think), but I do remember that I have improved it beyond all measure.

Cheesy veg bake

Saute a couple of sliced, washed leeks in butter. Add a large bag of baby spinach (wilted by pouring a jug of boiling water over it as it sits in a colander in the sink. Stab at the mass of spinach a bit with your spoon, to separate it out.

Add a small jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained, then stir in grated nutmeg, a heaped teaspoon of dijon mustard, ground white pepper and 200g crumbled gorgonzola piccante. As the cheese is starting to melt but before it makes a hideous mess of your pan, pour it into a baking dish. Top with a bit more crumbled gorgonzola and some pinenuts. If I had remembered that I had a bag of panko breadcrumbs in the pantry, I would have used some of them too. We bought a big tub of cheap pinenuts at the Asian supermarket a while back, so I could afford to be profligate with them. Bake at 180C for about 1/2 hour until everything is bubbly and melted and browned on top. Serves 2 as is, 4 with rice, 6 as a side dish.

4 comments:

The Farmer's Wife said...

Yummy! I am going to give it a try. I love the use of vegetables that aren't as common here in Mexico and also not in the US, helps to open the mind a bit!

Alicia Foodycat said...

Spinach and leeks are so English! They don't fit at all with my picture of Mexico (which is mostly from cheesy movies). Any combination of veg is pretty good. Broccoli is lovely in it, so is zucchini.

mscrankypants said...

Delicious, and also perfect to offset the winter chills here! I wonder if fennel would be a useful addition or distraction from the existing flavours?

Alicia Foodycat said...

Well, because I am not a fan of cooked fennel I would say distraction! But if you wanted something cool and crisp as a contrast I would say a lemony shaved fennel salad would be a very good idea!

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