Читать книгу From Season to Season: A Year in Recipes - Sophie Dahl - Страница 29

Root vegetable cakes with a cheesy béchamel sauce

Basically, a bubble-and-squeak cake with melted cheese on top. You could also serve this as an accompaniment to roast beef or any meat. Children seem to like these, they are crispy outside and sweet and moreish on the in. Serve with a gravy, either meat eaters or a mushroom or onion one for non- meat eaters.

SERVES 4

2 sweet potatoes, chopped into rough pieces

2 parsnips, chopped into rough pieces

2 carrots, chopped into rough pieces

A handful of chopped curly kale

½ a celeriac, chopped into small pieces

A handful of spinach, chopped

½ a leek, cut into small rounds

2 knobs of butter

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons of olive oil

For the sauce

500ml/2 cups of milk

A few slices of carrot and onion

A few sprigs of fresh parsley

A few peppercorns

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon of arrowroot

50g/½ cup of grated cheese

Salt and pepper

To make the sauce, put the milk in a saucepan with the carrot, onion, parsley and peppercorns. Bring to the boil, turn down and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour the milk into a Pyrex jug. Wash the saucepan out and dry, then melt the butter. Slowly add the arrowroot, stirring continuously. Very slowly add the milk, again stirring all the while. When this is incorporated and smooth, add the cheese and stir until it melts. Season to taste and if too thick, add a few more drops of milk.

Bring all of the vegetables EXCEPT the spinach and leek to the boil in a pan of salted water, cooking until soft. This should take about 15 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and mash the vegetables roughly with a knob of butter and some salt and pepper.

In a separate pan, heat a knob of butter and soften the leek and spinach for a few minutes. Mix the spinach and leek into the coarsely mashed vegetables and form into small cakes. Pop in the fridge for an hour or so.

In a big frying pan, heat the olive oil. Put the cakes in and cook for a few minutes on each side, until they are lacy and golden. Serve with a big spoon of sauce.