I dunno about you, but I find the cold weather exhausting. Maybe it’s my arthritis, or maybe it’s just that cold weather sucks. It just does. I know some of you love it, but you are weird. Haters to the left! (Are we still saying that?)
So because winter sucks and is exhausting, this recipe is all about comfort. I use short cuts like shredded cheese because, well, it’s tasty. You can grate the cheese yourself if you like, but why bother? Parboil your veg, dump them and the rest of the ingredients into a roasting dish, and throw it in the oven. Done. Doneski. Finie. Maybe add more cheese. Over and out.
You will need: A roasting tray, foil, a decent knife, a chopping board, a big pot for boiling veg
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Ingredients
6 medium sized potatoes
1 medium sized head of cauliflower
600mL cream
200mL sour cream
A 450g bag of shredded cheese
100g feta, crumbled
3 cloves garlic, sliced
Half a bunch of parsley, chopped
A big sprig of thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
Preheat your oven to 180C
Chop your potato and cauliflower into 1-2cm rounds. Cauliflower doesn’t exactly form into nice rounds like potato does, but near enough is good enough.
Put the potato and cauliflower onto boil, separately - potato first, while the water is cold, then cauliflower once it has been boiling for a few minutes. Test the veg by pushing a fork into a piece. If it won’t go in easily, let it boil for another few minutes. If goes in but has resistance, that’s about right when you want to turn the heat off and drain them. If it splits apart, whoops! Too far. But it’s still usuable!
Now, you can skip that step above - but you will need to roast it longer later.
Once drained, dump it all in your roasting dish.
Dump the herbs and garlic on top. No need for any saltbae antics - just straight in.
Tip in the cream. It may be too much cream for your roasting dish, so just use what you need.
Now chuck the sour cream straight on top and season. Mix it around a bit to incorporate it and the herbs into the cream. This is about the most effort you will have to do to the dish. Taste the seasoning - there is no raw meat in there, so you won’t have to worry about tasting the uncooked product.
Add the cheese, keeping about 1/4 of the bag to add to the top later.
Stir the cheese through. OK, so you have to stir twice. NBD.
Cover with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes (40 minutes if you skip the parboiling step. 10 if you overcooked your veg).
After 20 (or 40) minutes, it will be the most beautifully garlicky thing you have ever smelled. Add more cheese to the top and put in back into the oven uncovered for another 5-10 minutes, or until it becomes lovely and brown.
Serve as a meal on its own or as a side dish to a main meal.