Sweet potato and Brussels sprout casserole

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 500 g Brussels sprouts
• 400 g sweet potatoes
• 1 small onion(s)
• 650 ml vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 75 g diced ham
• 40 g butter
• 1 ½ tbsp flour, approx.
• 150 ml cream or whole milk (3.8%)
• e.g. salt and pepper
• e.g. nutmeg
• Fat for the mold
• 200 g cheese, grated

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 50 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes

a winter pleasure

Clean the Brussels sprouts, halve them, and remove the small stalks. Peel the sweet potato, slice them, and then cut them into bite-sized cubes. Peel and finely dice the onion. Cook the Brussels sprouts in a pot with vegetable stock until al dente. This takes about 10 minutes for half-florets. 3 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the sweet potatoes and cook. Drain the sweet potatoes in a sieve and collect the stock. Heat a pan with the olive oil and sauté the ham and onion cubes. Deglaze with a little of the vegetable stock, letting it reduce gradually. When the mixture is the desired brown color, set aside. For the cheese sauce, heat the butter in a pot. Add the flour and stir until smooth. When the butter and flour are combined, deglaze with the cream or milk and the reserved vegetable stock, stirring vigorously. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg and let the sauce simmer for about 5 minutes. Then reduce the heat and stir in about half of the cheese. Grease a sufficiently large casserole dish, toss the vegetables and potatoes with the onion and ham mixture, and pour into the dish. Pour the cheese sauce over the dish and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake the casserole in a preheated oven at 200°C (convection oven) on the middle rack for about 25 minutes, until the cheese is lightly browned. The casserole tastes delicious on its own, but also with a crisp salad. We like to serve it with natural yogurt.