Cime di Rapa, Parsnip, Potato & Feta Cheese Bake
And so I declare the Autumn cooking season officially opened- with this yummy, warming, simple and delicious vegetable bake here!
I added parsnip to my potatoes and greens to give a nice seasonal flavor and Feta cheese for some savory richness... perfect, yet healthy comfort food! Yes please!
Satisfying, filling but not filled with fat, cream, butter or any other such nonsense, this was a simple bake of good vegetables and rich flavors that made me feel good and not one little bit guilty! I know you will feel the same way too if you give it a try!
All I needed to make 2 generous portions was 1 small head of cime di rapa (or broccoli rabe), 1 good-sized parsnip, 1 Spring onion (which I forgot to put into this photo!!!), 2 eggs, 4 small potatoes, 1 half cupful of bread crumbs, 1 cup of milk and a half package of Feta cheese.
I love the bittersweet flavor of cime di rapa and I made the most of it by adding the eggs, milk and cheese of course and their best friend, nutmeg, which is an absolute winning combination! Try it and see!
I decided to leave my little potatoes un-peeled and cut them into relatively thin slices, the parsnip into similar sized wedges and the Spring onion into a relatively fine slice.
I cut the relatively thick stalks of the cime di rapa in half, before cutting them into bite-sizes pieces and chopped the leaves relatively coarsely, as they cook down really soft, really quickly.
I stirred the eggs, milk and a good sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg together really well and seasoned them with salt and pepper, ready to be added.
As for the vegetables, I put the potatoes, parsnips and stalks into a saucepan of hot water and let them boil together for 5 minutes, then added the leaves and the chopped onion on top and let them continue boiling/steaming for a further 5 minutes. I then drained them off and let them cool down before carrying on...
Once the vegetables had cooled off, I sprinkled them well with bread-crumbs, crumbled in most of the feta cheese, poured on the egg/milk batter and stirred everything together thoroughly.
I turned the oven on to 200°C to get it nice and hot and ready and buttered a baking dish and gave it a good coating of bread crumbs before filling it with my vegetable/cheese/egg mix.
I spooned the filling into my baking dish and pressed it down firmly using a spoon, so as not to damage the potatoes and parsnips too much. I then added a little more crumbled Feta cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper and a few little pats of butter here and there on the potatoes, before popping into the oven for 30 minutes at 180°C.
And this is how it looked after a half hour of baking... all golden and brown and crispy-topped and delicious!
Steaming hot and smelling wonderfully of rich nutmeg, the potatoes, parsnips and greens below the surface were soft and juicy- and the top layer cheesy and brown and delicious... just as this kind of comfort food dish aught to be! You really do not need loads of butter or cream or cheese to have good flavor!
Simple, honest, un-fussy food... that's what I like, that's what I make- and that's what I eat! And I am very proud of it too!
Talk about golden delicious!
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