Leek And Potato Bake

Leek And Potato Mash

Leek And Potato Bake – Easy, Low Cost And Delicious!

Isn’t it good when you can make something really delicious from just three ingredients? Leek, potato and cheese all seem to have a real affinity for each other. Add a good sprinkling of black pepper and a pinch of salt and you have an easy, tasty meal costing less than £2.50 to feed four people really well.

This is an easy, tasty, filling and low cost recipe for a comforting, midweek meal or as an accompaniment to a pie or sausages

Tasty Potatoes

When potatoes are the main part of the meal it is better to get really tasty potatoes. From my local organic vegetable supplier, Shillingford Organics, I get remarka potatoes that are really delicious and more recently Cosmos potatoes. There are many different varieties of potatoes that you might never see in the supermarkets. There are apparently around 500 varieties of potatoes altogether!

So if you can, try your local green grocers, markets and farm shops and look for some different varieties. They will not necessarily be more expensive than the supermarket. In fact if you buy a large bag, it may well be cheaper. If you want potatoes for a particular purpose, the supplier should be able to tell you which is most suitable.

Leeks

Leeks too can often cost more in supermarkets than in local markets. They are in season, delicious and plentiful from November through to April and are versatile enough to go with most things! Add to pasta dishes, stews and stir frys There are many dishes that are livened up by the addition of leeks! Click here for more leek recipe ideas.

Cheese

For the cheese, it is good to get strong tasting (may be local) cheddar cheese and then you can use a little less but still get plenty of flavour. This helps to keep the fat and calories content down too, if you are concerned about such things!

Leek And Potato Mash

I was unsure whether to call this dish a pie, bake or mash! It’s not strictly a pie as it has no pastry – but then nor has Shepherd’s Pie!

You can make this as a main course dish or as an accompaniment to a main dish. If its as a side dish, just halve the quantities.

When you are mashing the potatoes, add the milk a little at a time so you don’t get it too soft. The measure of milk is only a guide. Add more or less as required. I would also suggest that for flavour you do use real butter for this dish. Even though I am very frugal I prefer real food to processed and butter is so delicious it just seems worth the premium, especially if you can get butter local to your area.

Serve very hot, straight from the oven! Good with home made baked beans.

Leek And Potato Mash

Ingredients

• 1kg /2lb poatoes for mashing
• 500g / 1lb leeks, sliced
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
• 100g / 3oz mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 150ml milk
• 30g /1oz butter
• Pinch salt
• Black Pepper season to taste
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Cooking Directions

1. Grease a medium casserole dish or baking dish

2. Peel and chop the potatoes into large chunks

3. Place in a large saucepan of boiling water

4. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked

5. Meanwhile wash the and slice the leeks

6. Heat the oil in a frying pan

7. Add the leeks and cook until the y are soft

8. Set to one side

9. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C

10. Once the potatoes are cooked, add some of the milk and all of the butter and a pinch of salt

11. Mash thoroughly adding more butter if required

12. Spoon half the mash into the prpared dish

13. Add the leeks

14. Cover with the remaining mash

15. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top

16. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until cheese melted and brown

17. Serve immediately

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