Veggie Casserole

Sra very rightly guessed that I’ve become obsessed with baking when I went and bought a book with a 1000 recipes. In fact I have become so obsessed that I baked okras in the oven. It took a whole 40 minutes to get the kind of crispness I’d achieve in 10 minutes on the stove top!!! And NO, it doesn’t take a whole lot of oil on the stove top if one knows how to regulate the temperature. But I can’t be expected to be logical in times like these when I am likely to be diagnosed with an almost borderline Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

I baked a whole lot of bread with Poolish or the french way of pre ferment. I am particularly proud of the way the ciabattas turned out.

You see the holes 🙂 – the texture and shape can improve of course but it looks so pretty already and tastes delightful.

Something had to be made the main course so that between my husband and myself, we could eat up all of that bread. Now given my condition that “something” obviously had to be baked. So I assembled a simple casserole with a few veggies.

Ingredients

• Vegetables – 500 g (Potatoes, Peppers, Tomatoes or similar vegetables of your choice)
• Onions – 2 Medium
• Milk – 1/2 cup (or fresh cream/double cream for a richer version)
• Cheese – 50 g
• White breadcrumbs – 1/2 cup
• Salt and Paprika for seasoning (as per taste)
• Olive Oil – 1 tbsp

Method

1. Grease a 9 inch Baking dish with Olive Oil.
2. Slice the Onions into rings. Saute the onions until translucent and set aside to cool. Slice the other vegetables into thin discs.
3. Preheat an oven to 200 degrees C.
4. Form layers in the baking dish with the sliced vegetables, starting with the tomatoes. Sprinkle white breadcrumbs and seasonings over each layer before proceeding to the next. Continue doing this till all the vegetables are used. End with a layer of either potatoes or tomatoes (never onions, unless you like black onions!!!).
5. Pour the Milk into the baking dish. Top with the remaining bread crumbs and grated cheese.
6. Bake at 200 C for 40 minutes or until the dish turns golden on top.

Serve with bread of your choice.

Notes: Oven timings may vary. Note the browning on top to know when to stop. I finished with a layer of tomatoes for a change this time. Finishing with Potatoes in a casserole is a better idea – browned potatoes taste doubly better than oven baked tomatoes IMHO.

Doubly Note: I also baked samosas along with my baking buddy. Check them out at Baking Buddies.