Pit Stop

The road trip will resume tomorrow, but I just wanted to take a quick pit stop to post Sunday's dinner. It  was kind of yummy and I think I'll make again in future. This was a layered potato casserole with lentils, mushrooms, and walnuts...potato-lentil lasagne?  If I make it again, I'll make some sort of sauce (maybe a red wine sauce) to go with it, but on Sunday, we just drizzled balsamic vinegar over it.

On the side, we had some roasted kabocha squash, steamed kale with garlic and golden raisins and a mesclun salad.

It started with a rich lentil stew: I sauteed onion, carrot, and celery, a bay leaf or two, and a pinch of red chili flakes, then tossed in some Puy lentils and a few cups of veggie broth, and let it cook until tender. I added some parsley, some whole-grain Dijon mustard, and plenty of red wine about halfway through cooking. Then added salt and pepper to taste.

Here's a murky picture of the lentils cooking:

While the lentils simmered, I sauteed some chanterelle and crimini mushrooms, tossing in walnuts and parsley at the end.

Next, I layered the lentils and the mushroom/walnut mixture in a baking dish with thinly sliced potatoes. I spiked about 2 cups of veggie broth with some horseradish and nutritional yeast, poured it over the top of the casserole, covered it in foil and baked it in a 350 F oven for about 1 hour. About 5 minutes before taking it out of the oven, I removed the foil and sprinkled some ground walnuts over the top.

All tolled, it took about 2.5 (relaxed) hours from stove to table, but was fine for popping in and out of the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon. 

Back tomorrow, when the road trip arrives in Hungary.