Vegetarian Casserole(with images dammit!)

So if you are the one in your social circle lucky enough to be blessed with the honor of cooking for the peeps, and enjoying the ego trip and free booze that comes along with being the "chef in residence". You will eventually be asked to cook for a vegetarian, I keep some veggie burgers in my freezer, and although most shrubs roll their eyes when I give them this option, they usually eat it and shut up.
But what if the invited guests that are veggies outnumber the carnivores, do you do steamed broccoli for the masses and fire up the barbecue for one or two people, fuck no. You make a dish that is so damn good even the meat eaters are left saying "wow, maybe I could be a vegetarian"
This dish is my go-to for these types of situations, and it is low fat (about 10g fat in a big ass serving), and very easily changed up to suit whatever you have available.

I am going to subdivide the ingredients for reference later on.
You will need;

Part 1
6 medium russet potatoes, by medium I mean about 3-4 inches in length.
2 small yams or one big one
1 turnip(a small yellow or white one, about 4cm(2inch) across
1 large leek, or two small ones.
100ml(1/3 cup+1tablespoon) condensed milk
60ml(1/4 cup) butter or margarine
15ml(1 tablespoon) salt
5ml(1teaspoon) salt
2.5ml(1/2 teaspoon) black pepper

Part 2
An assortment of vegetables totaling about 1.5 kg.
Choose vegetables that have a similar cooking time, or will hold up to being slightly overcooked.
In the dish I just prepared I used;
Green beans(fresh)
Butternut squash(peeled)
Button mushrooms
Canned miniature corn
Miniature eggplant
Onion
30ml(2 tablespoons) butter
And I would have thrown in some red pepper if I had it. If you cook a lot you already get the gist, root vegetables for part 1, anything else for part 2.

Part 3
200ml(3/4 cup) vegetable stock(made fresh or bought in tetra pack)
100ml(1/3 cup) condensed milk
5ml(1teaspoon) dijon mustard
2.5ml(1/2 teaspoon) salt
2.5ml(1/2 teaspoon) chili garlic paste
10 ml(2 teaspoons) cornstarch
5 ml(1 teaspoon) flour

Pre show;
Not much really, it is possible to prep the items as they are needed due to the different cooking times. Preheat oven to 400f/200c
The show;
Peel the root vegetables, and trim the leeks from part 1. Chop them very coarsely to about 2cm(1.3in) pieces as you would do with the potatoes for mashed potatoes. Place them in a large pot with the 15ml salt and enough water to cover them +1/3 more. And turn the heat to high.


Chop the vegetables you have selected for part 2 into bite sized pieces and put them in a pan on med-high with the butter. Brown them quite well while stirring every minute or so. You want to brown them well to get a deeper flavor, the piece of squash in the left hand corner of the photo is a good example.


Take the ingredients in part 3 and shake them in a sealed jar vigorously, seriously, really bash the piss out of them. It should look a bit like a milkshake, and don't let it sit for too long while you're browning the vegetables or the solids will settle out.


Add the mix to the pan of vegetables once they are browned, and cook while stirring for about 5 minutes. It will be quite pasty, and not very attractive, thats okay. While the casserole is baking, water will come out of the vegetables and make the sauce a bit thinner. Pour the mix into a large casserole dish like the one shown below.

By now the contents of your first pot should have been at a rolling boil for quite a while now, stick a fork into a yam piece or potato and twist it, if it falls apart easily it is done. Drain off the water(and save it for making bread if you are pretty advanced in kitchen things), put them back in the pot with the remaining ingredients from part 1 and mash them coarsely. You're not looking for mashed potato consistency, just a lumpy mashed up mess.

The situation should now look something like this.


Spread the mashed root veg and leeks in an even layer over the vegetables and sauce. I threw on some grated havarti cheese and bread crumbs, but thats optional.

Bake in a 400f/200c oven for 30 minutes for everything to blend and percolate a bit. Serve with; a green salad, or caesar salad and dark beer or red wine.


C/O
"fucking shrubs"