Easy casserole recipe please!

ashlea170706

Hi this probably sounds silly but i need to know just how to make a basic casserole i have veg and pots but not sure what way to start it! so if anyone can give me a recipe that would be great! thanks ash x

mioliere

Hi there - whether you cook it on the hob or in the oven, you'll need to take the same initial steps. This is what I do for a stew on the hob, my Remoska or the oven.

For four people:

Peel and chop 5 medium sized potatoes into bite-sized pieces
Scrub and chop 2 large carrots, 1 large or 2 small leeks, 1 courgette, 1 stick celery, 1 large onion, 2 or 3 large mushrooms, and 2/3 cloves of garlic (if liked).

Cube the meat - I usually use stewing steak but you can do this with lamb, pork and so on.

Gently fry the onions and garlic in a little oil for three minutes, add the meat and brown for a further two minutes, crumble in an Oxo and stir so that it coats the meat, onions and garlic. Add all the other prepared veggies and stir them around, then add some stock (one or two pints depending on how big the pan is) or hot water from a kettle. I then add a bayleaf (tearing it to release the oils), half a teaspoon of sugar, some herbs (I like Herbes de Provence), some seasoning (I love the Chicken seasoning sold on the Indian counter in the Co-op, it goes with all meat dishes) and half a teaspoonful of Marmite.

To cook on the hob, just reduce to a simmer and cook for around two to three hours. If you want dumplings now is the time to add them. Recipe for those at the end of this post. Cook for a further half an hour with the dumplings, and serve. You will need to keep stirring and checking occasionally because the juices evaporate, so you need to top up with hot water from the kettle. If you think it's too runny, just add some gravy granules.

If you are cooking it in the oven, just transfer everything from the saucepan into a casserole dish, cover with a lid or some foil, and cook for around the same amount of time, adding the dumplings about 45 mins before you want to eat it.

Dumplings:

4ozs SR flour
2ozs Atora suet

Mix both together in a largish bowl. Add cold water - a little at a time, because you don't want the mixture too wet. Stir the water in with a knife and it will gradually bind together into one large ball. With floured hands, mould into 12-14 smallish balls. Keep them apart from each other until you are ready to use them, then put them in the stew or casserole carefully.

Hope this helps - it's what we're having for dinner tonight; perfect in this cold weather!