Arrgh, the pictures simply won’t size properly, it’s driving me nuts!
Doing some gardening today, I pulled up a self sown Pink Fir Apple potato that was in the way of the spinach and it had several little potatoes on, so I had those with my lunch. They were really really nice! I didn’t have much luck with the potatoes last year, but this year they are appearing everywhere!
This evening, I am trying something new. Do you remember when I went to The Squirrel Inn recently? I read one of the cookery books they have propped on a window sill while we were waiting and found a few things that I filed away for future use. Well, this is one of them.
a medium carrot, 150g, Aldi 59p/kg, 9p
a medium onion, 5p
a small parsnip Aldi, 79p/600g, 20p
2 cloves garlic, 5p
half a pepper, 20p
400ml milk, Aldi 2.27 litre/89p, 16p
1 egg, Aldi 10 eggs/80, 8p
100g flour, value, 45p/1.5kg, 3p
Total cost 86p, 43p a serving
Serves 2
Peel the onion and garlic. Chop the onion into small pieces, not as if you were chopping it to fry, larger than that. Peel the other veg if you like. Cut up the vegetables into medallions or similar, small pieces. Toss in a little oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a hot oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are tender and cooked through.
Meanwhile, mix the batter ingredients together, whisking well, then set aside.
When the veg are nearly cooked, put the dish that you want to cook the finished dish in, in the oven, with a splash of oil in it. Heat it until it’s very hot. Take it out of the oven, and immediately pour the batter in, tip the hot vegetables on top, and whip it straight back in the oven. Don’t delay even for a few seconds, the batter must sizzle as it hits the dish and must still be sizzling as it goes back in the oven.
Now cook in a hot oven until the batter is crispy and golden, at least 20 minutes, maybe half an hour. Serve immediately.
DP wanted a bit of parmesan on top, but I don’t think it worked very well, so I’ve left it out here. I also poured the batter over the veg, rather than the other way round, but I think it would work better this way.
You can use any vegetables that will roast well, and maybe with other additions too. How about the classic beetroot and feta, with some rosemary sprigs on top to go crispy. Swede, parsnip and onion for a real winter version. Butternut squash, onion and crispy sage. Red pepper, fennel and onion.
It would even work with a sweet version. Put a couple of teaspoons of sugar in the batter and use apples caramelised in butter and a little cinnamon. Raspberries. Plums and mixed spice. Cherries from a jar – we’re definitely in clafoutis territory now. Serve any of the sweet versions with some cream. Yum
Fab! so glad you liked it
Tried most of your recipes including veggie hole which is now a firm favourite! Yum
yes, see what you mean. Worth a try
With a Spanish omelette (bear with me here) the technique is to add the cooked vegetables to the raw egg, drain off some fat if necessary then heat the frying pan up really hot and add the egg and veg to it at once. I’m wondering if this might be the way to go with your veg in the hole.
With the omelette you then turn the heat down to cook it through.
the heated ring is a good idea, that will keep the blighter hot
I always put the roasting tin on a heated ring whilst pouring in the batter.
With fruit batter puddings, I add the raw fruit with the batter, which may not be better, but it makes it very simple.
It was pretty good, I’m still working on getting filled Yorkshires as crispy as the un-filled ones
hahahaha, maybe if you had your plum clafoutis as your lunch or dinner, you could count it in
That sounds very tasty, and would make a good change from ‘toad’ 🙂
That sounds delicious. I might try it with some of the plums in the freezer. The trouble with your recipes Lesley, it’s that they are not particularly conducive to a slim waistline, which I definitely need to work towards!