- Serves 4 (add garlic bread if they are very hungry diners) - Ready in 40 minutes -
(it will sit and wait happily in the oven for latecomers if the lid is left on)
Gather together…
1 tbsp rapeseed oil / olive oil.
500g Quorn chicken style pieces (frozen).
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed (or use 2 tsp of lazy garlic paste).
2 medium leeks, finely sliced.
150g (2 big handfuls) baby mushrooms, sliced thinly.
1 tbsp cornflour.
200g (1 tub) cream cheese (half fat).
1 tsp mustard.
2 tbsp Tarragon, chopped (I grow / buy herbs in bulk and then chop and freeze them, so they are ready to use quickly in recipes).
Pinch of black pepper.
½ a stock cube or 1 tsp 'Marigold Less Salt Swiss Vegetable Bouillon powder' (available in bulk 1kg tubs).
300ml boiling water.
1 cup (100g weighed equivalent) ready-made breadcrumbs (or 3 slices of brown bread, toasted well and then allowed to cool in the toaster, torn into chunks by hand and then whizzed up in a food processor).
Zest of 1 small lemon (plus use up the 'innards' of the lemon by squeezing the juice over the salad leaves when you serve up the dish, so it isn't wasted).
2 tsp flat-leaf Parsley, finely chopped, (chop and freeze the rest of the bunch to use in future recipes).
Serve with…
Green salad leaves (with the lemon juice squeezed over).
Garlic bread (shop bought or homemade by toasting halved paninis and drizzling the cut sides thinly with oil and spreading on 'lazy garlic' from a jar / rubbing with a peeled and crushed garlic clove) - optional for when you have very hungry diners.
Get cooking…
1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a deep, lidded, casserole dish over a medium/low heat on the hob. Add the 500g of frozen Quorn pieces, the 2 chopped garlic cloves, the 2 chopped leeks and the 2 handfuls of (sliced) baby mushrooms, stir and cook for 5 minutes, with the lid on, stirring occasionally.
2. Boil a half-full kettle of water.
3. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180 C fan) or gas mark 6.
4. After the 5 minutes have passed, turn the hob OFF whilst you add further ingredients.
5. Sprinkle the 1 tbsp cornflour over the ingredients in the dish and stir well.
6. Add the 200g pack of cream cheese, the 1 tsp of mustard and the 2 tbsp of Tarragon to the dish. Season with a pinch of black pepper. Stir.
7. Add the 1 tsp of stock powder to the pan (sieve in the dry powder to prevent lumps), pour the 300ml boiling water in and mix. Bring it up to a simmer (this will take about 5 minutes).
8. Meanwhile mix together the 1 cup of breadcrumbs, the lemon zest from one lemon and the 2 tsp of Parsley, then scatter this mixture over the top of the Quorn dish, as a crust.
9. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes with the lid on, then for 10 minutes with the lid off so that the breadcrumbs turn golden. Finish off under a hot grill for a further 2 minutes if you want a really golden finish. Or, if you leave the lid on throughout then it can be left in the oven for up to an hour if you are waiting for diners to arrive.
10. Serve with a salad of green leaves, with the lemon juice squeezed over, plus garlic bread on the side (shop bought or make homemade garlic bread by toasting halved paninis and drizzling the cut sides thinly with oil and spreading on 'lazy garlic' from a jar / rubbing with a peeled and crushed garlic clove).
Adapted from a Christmas leftover turkey recipe, which I currently can't find to create a link to...