Boiled Meat Potato Casserole by Elena Bon

Such a casserole with a golden sour cream crust, made on the basis of mashed potatoes, with a layer of boiled meat and fried onions, supplemented with fresh vegetables or vegetable salad, is a wonderful option for a hearty second course for lunch or a main one for dinner, including for children. PS The meat for the casserole must be boiled in advance (at least 12 hours in advance) so that it has time to cool completely in the refrigerator before you rotate it in a meat grinder.

Ingredients

• potatoes - 1000 g (it is better not to use young)
• carrots - ½ medium (weighing about 50-70 g) - optional
• milk 3.2% fat - 150 ml
• butter - about 30 g + a little for lubricating the mold
• egg - 1 large (weighing about 65 g)
• chilled lean beef - 500 g
• onions - 1 medium head (weighing about 120-150 g)
• fresh mushrooms - about 150 g small (optional)
• sour cream 18-20% fat - about 100 g
• refined sunflower oil for frying - about 1.5-2 tbsp. l.
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper or a mixture of 4 types of pepper to taste
• dill, parsley for decoration (optional)

Directions

1. Boil the meat at least 12 hours before cooking the casserole. To do this, rinse it under cold running water and fill it in a metal saucepan with a thick bottom with a volume of at least 3-3.5 liters of cold (preferably filtered) water so that it covers it by about 5 cm (all you need is about 2-2.5 l of water). Place a saucepan over medium heat and bring the water to a boil. Carefully remove the resulting foam with a colander spoon, then reduce the heat under the saucepan and cook the meat over low heat under the lid for about 1.5 hours.
2. Turn off the heat under the prepared broth with meat, let it cool completely and refrigerate before use. Or, if you plan to store the meat for a rather long time (longer than 2-3 days), transfer it to a smaller pan, fill it with broth (so that the latter completely covers the meat) and freeze, and at the right time (on the day of cooking the casserole for 8 hours -10) - defrost at room temperature.
3. Just before cooking the casserole, turn on the oven and heat it to 3.5-4 (about 190-210 ° C).
4. Start preparing the vegetable puree. To do this, put a saucepan of about 3 liters on the fire with cold, preferably filtered water. During this time, wash and peel the potatoes and carrots (if you are using one). If necessary, cut the vegetables into equal pieces so that they cook at the same time. When the water in the pot boils, put the carrots in there first (if using one), then the potatoes. Cook the vegetables until tender (which can be checked with a sharp knife - it should go into them without much effort) over low heat, covered for about 20 minutes. after boiling.
5. While the potatoes (and carrots) are boiling, peel and wash the onions, cut them into small cubes and fry until transparent and soft in a well-heated frying pan in vegetable oil (about 1.5-2 tbsp. L.) Min. 5-8 over medium heat, stirring occasionally so as not to burn. Then turn off the heat under the pan and leave the onions on it until use.
6. Assemble the meat grinder. Scroll the meat through it, after removing it from the broth and cutting it into small pieces.
7. Put the fried onions to the scrolled meat, salt and pepper the minced meat to taste. Add to it about 2-3 small ladles of broth (about 75 ml each), in which the meat was cooked. As a result, the minced meat should turn out to be quite viscous, not crumbly.
8. When the potatoes (and carrots, if you are using them) are boiled, mash. To do this, drain the water from the vegetables, salt with a large pinch of salt or to taste, close the pan with a lid (so that they do not cool down) and set aside. Bring the milk (150 ml) together with 30 g of butter to a boil in a small saucepan and immediately pour over the still hot vegetables. Mash them with a special crush until smooth, which should be thick.
9. Let the finished vegetable puree cool slightly, without covering it with a lid (5 minutes), then carefully stir in the egg with a crush (trying to beat the mass vigorously to make it more fluffy).
10. Grease a small aluminum baking sheet (17.5 × 27.5 cm, 4 cm high) or any other similar size available to you, grease with butter, put ½ vegetable puree on it, flatten it with a spoon, spread evenly on top minced meat, then the remaining puree, flatten the top, pressing lightly.
11. Lubricate the surface of the casserole with sour cream; if you wish, you can make curly grooves on it with a spoon in a wave-like motion from top to bottom. Bake the casserole in the oven at 3.5-4 (about 190-210 ° C) for about 50-60 minutes. until golden brown or as recommended in your oven instructions for baking meat casseroles.
12. Divide the cooked casserole into portions before serving. Place each portion on a serving plate using a spatula, using a knife to slide the baked pudding off the last. the casserole is tender and sticks to the surface of the shoulder blade. Garnish the casserole with freshly washed and finely chopped dill or parsley, if desired, and top with fresh vegetables (such as chopped cucumbers).
13. Transfer the rest of the dish to another - a clean, closed container and store in the refrigerator at 0-6 ° С for no more than a day. Before serving, preheat them, for example, in the oven, after wrapping them in foil. But the most delicious casserole is freshly prepared.