Rich & Creamy Veggie Casserole - Sunday Comfort Food to Warm Your Belly

I like to enjoy some healthy comfort food on Sundays, so vegetable casseroles are a favourite.  I love making them because 1. they're so easy, and 2. they're so versatile.  I always use different vegetables and add different legumes, different cheeses, different seasonings.  Yum.

I'm pondering going 100% plant based, but for now I still eat some dairy, and so the sauce on this casserole is rich and creamy - similar to a carbonara sauce.  I always buy whole, organic, free-range, and wherever possible buy local produce where it's easier to find out the ethics of the farmers and whether the animals have a good life.  But not only that, just as with the plant products I eat, I like to know these dairy products are good quality and free from harmful chemicals and processes.

Ingredients (organic recommended):

4 potatoes

4 carrots

1 leek

1 red onion

1 bulb garlic

200ml fresh whole cream

1 free range egg

100g good quality cheese

1 tblsp sweet paprika

1 tblsp parsley

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp unrefined salt

Directions:

Peel and slice the potatoes and carrots.  I slice carrots diagonally to make larger slices, rather than slicing straight down to make circles.

Slice the leek and rinse well to remove any trapped dirt from between the layers.

Dice the onion and garlic.

In a jug mix together the cream, egg, grated cheese, parsely, paprika, salt and pepper (similar to a carbonara sauce).

Lightly oil a casserole/oven-proof dish (to prevent sticking) and arrange the layers as you wish: I did two layers, so firstly lay down half the potatoes, then half the carrots, half the onions, half the leek, and sprinkle half the garlic.  Drizzle half the sauce over the first layer.  Repeat with the next layer.

I found there was just enough potato slices to do a final layer on top, drizzle the remaining sauce and grate extra cheese, along with a generous sprinkle of parsley and paprika.  Place the lid onto the dish and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for about 45 minutes until the veg has softened and the casserole has become golden on top.

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("5 Cs" shared with kind permission from @kiwideb)