Dad's Favourite, Veggie Casserole

White people love casserole. It’s true.

A good friend of ours Gracie has been emailing out weekly lo-fi food emails that are actually the best ever thing to come out of lockdown (apart from you know reduced carbon emissions and stuff). She shares recipes in the spirit of the old fashioned way - you know written on scrap envelopes in your friend’s kitchen after eating something that wowed you. In last week’s issue she challenged her readership to make something that reminds you of someone you can’t be physically with this lockdown. I took this one step further and suggested to my family group chat that a Sunday dinner was in order and the dish of honour would be Dad’s favourite, veggie casserole.

We have had veggie casserole for Dad’s birthday and Fathers Day for as long as I can remember. Imagine a slightly sweet, rich, deep brown (great adjectives I know) gravy like you would get in a typical red meat casserole but instead of cubes of beef you have cubes of kumara, potato, carrot, and of course mushrooms. The piece de resistance are the cubes of cheese scattered in ten minutes before completion. They melt and ooze through the sauce ready and waiting to be mopped up by the all important supermarket baguette slathered with butter. My brother always complained about it and if it wasn’t for his vegetarian girlfriend I don’t think this Zoom family dinner menu would have flown so I thank her deeply.

The exact origins of this recipe were unknown to me until last night. Turns out 30 something years ago Mum and Dad got this recipe from their friends who are always referred to as “The Griffiths” who were served it when they were invited for lunch. The Griffiths also received it from friends after going to a lunch. I rather love that this dish we chose to make had origins in the spirit of this very weekly newsletter that brought us together.

Now admittedly this isn’t the first time I have written about this recipe. Back in 2012 I was the student food columnist for the Otago Daily Times who on the weekly shared cheap and cheerful recipes for the student population. It was called More Than Mince which I thought was quite clever at the time. Luckily it looks like the photos on the ODT server have corrupted because my oh my has amateur food photography progressed in eight years. If you want a good laugh you can read the horror here.

While there is a recipe there also kind of isn’t a recipe. Mum hasn’t used one in decades. Last night I strayed from the traditional by putting celery, a bendy parsnip, thyme, and portobello mushrooms in the pot and mopped it up with BA’s best bread that we had going spare. This recipe is a good way to use up any fading root vegetables you have and doesn’t require anything particularly special to make it. I remember as a student I used a box of Country Red that we had on the (ironically) top shelf of our flat kitchen for cooking with.

Just to ease your worries, we are not drinking Country Red.

Also please many apologies for the hideous photos. Nothing says appealing quite like brown glossy slop under artificial light. It looks hideous I know but trust us when we say it is delicious.

Give this gem a go and remember to have the full and proper experience you must have bread to mop up the gravy.

Dad’s Favourite Veggie Casserole

Serves 4

25g butter

A good slug of olive oil

1 large potato, chopped into good sized cubes

1 large kumara, chopped into good sized cubes

3-4 carrots, peeled and cut on the bias (of course) - you can use a mixture of parsnip too

1 red or brown onion, peeled and sliced into wedges

3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and just smashed

10 button mushrooms, quartered (or use portobello or as well)

1 stalk of celery, sliced on the bias (optional if you are wanting to be super traditional)

A bay leaf (optional)

A couple of thyme sprigs (optional)

2 tablespoons plain flour

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 cup red wine

2 cups beef (or beef flavoured) stock

A good cup and a bit of cubed cheese, Edam was usually the go to but Colby and Tasty work a treat to

Salt to taste

This is best made in a dutch oven which is stovetop and oven proof but if you don’t have one available cook this recipe on the stove in a large saucepan before transferring to a lidded casserole dish for the oven stage.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and make sure the oven racks are arranged so that your dish will fit.

Over a medium heat melt your butter and olive oil before adding your onion, thyme, garlic, and celery. Let them soften for a few minutes then add the rest of the vegetables. Lightly sauté these vegetables for another few minutes. Sprinkle over the flour and toss the vegetables to coat them. Add in the tomato paste and do the same, stirring thoroughly to get a good coating. Add in the red wine and beef stock and give it a stir making sure nothing is stuck to the bottom. Bring to a simmer then pop on the lid and cook in the oven for an hour or so until the vegetables are tender and sauce is thick. Scatter the cheese cubes over the top and return to the oven with the lid on for a further 10-15 minutes to melt the cheese. Serve with crusty, buttered bread.

Enjoy