Leek, Potato and Carrot Bake
This recipe is adapted from Frugal Food by Delia Smith which has recently been reissued. I remember this dish from my childhood as my mother used to make it. It was only when I acquired Frugal Food that I discovered that my mother had cooked her way through it. I really enjoy the crunchy topping on this and I have to stop my children from just peeling it off and eating it.
Ingredients
- 3 large carrots, peeled/scraped and left whole
- 3 large potatoes, peeled/scraped and left whole
- 4 leeks, slice and washedIn line with text | Fixed position
- 1 onion, chopped
- 500ml milk
- 500ml vegetable water (the water which the carrots and potatoes were cooked in)
- butter
- ground mace
- flour
- seasoning
Topping
- 100g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
- 100g breadcrumbs
- cayenne pepper to taste
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180oC.
- Butter a large oven proof dish.
- Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil
- Add the whole potatoes and carrots.
- Cook for 15 min, they should still retain their shape.
- Drain and reserve liquid.
- Leave vegetables to cool.
- Using the same pan, melt 50g butter and add the leeks and onions.
- Cook until softened.
- Slice potatoes and carrots thinly and arrange in layers in the oven-proof dish.
- Pour over the softened leeks and onion.
- Make the sauce by melting 50g butter and 2 tbsp flour to make a roux.
- Slowly add the milk and reserved vegetable water.
- The sauce should have the consistency of thick cream.
- Add seasoning and mace.
- Pour over the vegetables, making sure it gets right down to the bottom, between all the vegetables.
- Topping: mix breadcrumbs, grated cheese and cayenne pepper together and sprinkle over the vegetables.
- Dot with small flecks of butter.
- Bake for approx 1 hour.
- Serve alone, with a salad or as a side to a meat dish.
Tips
Watch the quantity of sauce, make plenty as this can be dry if you make too little. Check the vegetables are cooked through before serving, the dish may take longer. Warning, I have made this dish plenty of times and it took me a while to get the amount of sauce and cooking time right.