(Recipe Follows).
I don’t have a name for these particular dishes – I’ve been making them since university – and I’d love to hear your ideas on what to call them. (This is picture one of three, three different applications, one with broccoli, another with cauliflower, and this one with kabocha.)
In short, they are raw or roasted vegetables folded into a white sauce. You can add (what I call mix-ins) to enrich the flavors, but they are not needed. They simple but elegant and are an excellent way to improve any meal.
Here is a link to the video detailing all of the steps.
Base Recipe
1 prebaked tart shell or pastry
2 cups of milk
40 grams of white flour (approx. 4tbs)
56 grams of butter (approx. 3 tbs)
1-2 cups of minced vegetable (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots are good options) OR
1 -2 cups roasted vegetables, chopped (such as kabocha, turnips, parsnips)
Salt to taste.
Optional Mix-Ins.
1/2 - 1 cup cheese (parmesan or Swiss cheeses are especially good)
1 teaspoon fresh herbs
1 egg yolk
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
Minced bacon or ham.
Make the White Sauce.
- In a saucepan melt the butter.
- Add all the flour at once and cook for about 3 minutes.
- With a whisk in hand, add all of the milk at once and stir quickly and constantly until the flour mixture is dissolved. (The milk MUST be cold. If the milk is warm, you will create lumps in the sauce.)
- With a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, continue to stir the mixture until it thickens. This should take 2 - 4 minutes over medium heat.
- Add all of your minced vegetable and stir to incorporate.
- Add in any mix-ins you would like to incorporate.
- If you plan to bake, remove from heat and pour into a prepared tart shell and bake for 40 minutes at 180°C/350°F.
- If you plan to serve without baking, continue to cook on the stove top for 5-10 minutes stirring constantly to “cook” the vegetable to your liking.
- However you prepare it, it will thicken as it cools to room temperature.
- Serve at room temperature or cold.
Note: As a failsafe, you can prepare a mixture of tablespoon corn/potato starch dissolved in 3 tablespoons water. If your sauce is too liquid by the end of cooking (at the end of step 6) begin to add this solution to the mixture and stir vigorously to quickly thicken the sauce.
