Creamy Carrot Casserole

 

The recipe I am sharing today makes a delicious side dish for those special occasions when you want to pull the boat out a tiny bit. 

 

Its perfect for special occasions, holiday meals, company dinners and yes, even pot luck buffets.  (I guarantee you will come home with an empty dish!)

 

Best of all it doesn't require any special ingredients, with exception of perhaps the prepared horseradish . . . . but, if you are like me, this is a store cupboard ingredient, so you will most likely have it in your refrigerator or cupboard anyways. (Here's hoping!)

 

Carrots are a well loved vegetable, but they can get boring at times I guess.  Mine never are, but I always add a knob of butter, a smidgen of sugar and some freshly grated nutmeg to enhance their natural flavour.  (That is the secret to never boring carrots.) 

 

This tasty dish goes beyond that however!  It is so simple to make that even a child could do it. You simply peel, slice and cook your carrots until crispy tender.  (About 7 minutes in boiling lightly salted water.  Drain them really well and return them to the pot, season lightly with salt and pepper,  and give them a good shake over the residual heat from your burner to dry them off even more. 

 

Whisk together some mayonnaise (yes, mayonnaise),  prepared horseradish sauce, grated onion and that's it.  Stir this mixture into the carrots and then pour them into a buttered casserole dish. 

 

I like to use a large  shallow baking dish myself, so you can spread them out a bit, giving you more area to turn golden . . .

  

A simple topping of grated strong cheddar cheese and some ritz cracker crumbs finish it off.  If your casserole dish is really large you could double the cheese and crackers as you will have a larger surface area to crisp up.

 

You bang it all into a moderate oven  . . . . 

 

Half an hour later and Bob's your uncle.  Your carrots are done, scrumptiously gilded, and ready to eat.

 

The sauce is rich and slightly peppery punchy, but not overwhelmingly so  . . .  it goes wonderfully with the sweetness of the carrots . . .

 

You've got the richness of that cheese topping and the crunch from the cracker crumbs  . . .

  

I cannot think of any roast dinner these wouldn't go with, however we really like them with Ham, which makes them perfect for New Years and Easter.  Just saying  . . .

Yield: Serves 8Author: Marie Rayner

Creamy Carrot Casserole

prep time: 20 minscook time: 30 minstotal time: 50 mins

A delicious creamy side dish which is guaranteed to hopefully turn even the most ardent carrot hater into a lover.

ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced into coins

220g good quality mayonnaise (1 cup)

1 TBS finely grated raw onion

1 TBS prepared horseradish

salt and black pepper to taste

30g grated strong cheddar cheese (1/4 cup)

6 ritz crackers, finely crumbled

instructions:

Cook your carrots in lightly salted boiling water until crispy
tender (5 to 7 minutes.)  Drain well.  Dump into a bowl and season
lightly with salt and black pepper. Stir in the mayonnaise, onion, and
horseradish, combining well together.  Turn into a shallow buttered
casserole dish.

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. 

Sprinkle
 the grated cheese over top of the carrots.  Scatter the cracker crumbs
over top.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, uncovered, until
heated through and golden brown. Serve hot.

Created using The Recipes Generator

 

Another thing I really love about this dish is you can cook the carrots, and throw them together with the saucy ingredients and pile them into a casserole dish a day or so before you need them, ready to top and bake on the day.  Easy peasy!  Make ahead!  Delicious!  What more could you want!  

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