Tomato-y Sweet Potato and Leek Bake
Cold Autumn weather is giving me all the oven dish cravings. Just a quick 30mins work in the kitchen and the pop it all in the oven so I can go back to my couch and blankets and cats. So I keep doing all these dishes and never get tired of them.
I like the sweet potato touch and to be fair, these are perfect to get rid of any leftover veggies. If you have any potatoes, add or alternate them with the sweet potatoes, instead of the leek you can definitely replace it by other greens like spinach.
Anyway, I will stop this chit-chat. Please have a look at my recipe and definitely share with me if you have made it. You can find me on Instagram here.
What do you need? (4 servings)
For the sauce
500g minced meat (whichever you prefer)
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced in 1/4cm slices (more or less)
200ml passata
2 leeks, cleaned and sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
olive oil
salt & pepper
For the béchamel:
400ml milk
100g butter
2 big tablespoons of AP flour
1tsp fine sugar (optional)
nutmeg
a good handful of your favourite mild grated cheese
Start with the sauce.
Add some olive oil in a large pan and once hot, add onion and leek. Cook until the onion becomes golden and the leek nicely soft and fragrant. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
Then add the minced meat. I use pork/beef mixture but you could also use some chicken mince or any type you prefer! Break into small pieces with a wooden spoon and cook until nicely browned. Don’t forget to stir it around a little so nothing burns.
Add the tomato sauce, salt, pepper en a tiny bit of sugar if using. Stir and leave to simmer on a low heat for 30mins.
Meanwhile, make the béchamel. Grab you whisk!
Add the butter into a pot and leave to melt until bubbling. Add the flour and whisk into the butter until a paste forms. Add the milk little by little: start with a small amount and whisk to fully incorporate the paste into the milk. When the milk thickens and bubbles, add more milk. Halfway through, add the cheese and nutmeg. Then, keep going with adding the milk until it has been used up and the béchamel is nice and thick.
Pre-heat the oven at 200°C
Layer as follows into the oven dish:
start with 1/2 of the meat mixture
top with a layer of sweet potato
add the rest of the meat sauce
another layer of sweet potato
pour all the béchamel sauce and spread evenly
Cover with aluminium foil and pop into the oven for 45minutes. Finish off baking by removing the foil and turning on the grill for 5minutes.
Serve piping hot! Really nice the next day as well so you can definitely make enough to have leftovers ;)
If you want to discover more of my dishes, have a look here!
Or if you want to try a similar dish, check out my pumpkin moussaka!
