So I posted forever ago about my first successful improvised casserole. I was trying to create dinner out of what I had in my fridge and pantry, and that was two large red potatoes, a large bulb of fennel, and a bag of frozen baby peas. And butter, half and half, flour, onions, etc. I perused my cookbooks for inspiration and found a recipe for Creamed Peas and New Potatoes in this lovely cookbook:

 It was given to me by my mother-in-law. Funny, huh? My anti-girly-ness was almost offended by the gift, but it’s not a bad cookbook - keeps things simple. So thank you Chris = ).

I’m sure you can figure out how to boil potatoes and add peas. The real genius in this recipe was the sauce:

Ingredients

10-12 (1 lb) tiny new potatoes (or two large red potatoes in chunks – Hey, use what you’ve got.)

1 1/2 Cups frozen or shelled peas

1 small/medium chopped onion

1  Tbs butter

1 Tbs all purpose flour

Sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

1 cup milk/half and half (or whatever)

Snipped fresh chives or dill (or dried)

(If I’m loosey-goosey about the ingredients and instructions, it’s because I don’t think I should tell people what to do in the kitchen – we all have different tastes – figure out what YOU like!)

1. So following the recipe, I scrubbed my two potatoes and put them in boiling salted water for about 8 minutes and added the peas.

2. Meanwhile I started sauteing my sliced fennel (green tops removed) in olive oil (because that’s the way we like it around here).

3. While all that was going on, I cooked the onion in hot butter in a saucepan, until tender. Stirred in flour, salt, and pepper. Added milk all at once. Cooked and stirred until thickened and bubbly. Cooked and stirred 1 minute more. (And the sauce is great! The onions melt away into the sauce, very tasty.)

4. It was at about this point that I decided this might make a pretty nice casserole and that I could throw it in the oven and let it sit there until my husband got home. So, I tossed the blanched potatoes and peas and the lightly sauteed fennel into my casserole dish with the onion cream sauce. I added a good amount of sea salt and lots of fresh cracked pepper (cause that’s the way we like it) and a bunch of dried dill. Stirred it up and put it in a 350 degree oven for close to an hour.

And iVoila! When hubby got home, we ate it with our respective protein choices and a perfect salad with homemade vinaigrette. I think we argued about whether I should have put the cover on or not (I had, but he’s the gratin expert and said, “No way!”), but it turned out great.

I think I might bring this to the next potluck I go to. The hard part is deciding whether to serve it hot or cold because it makes a great cold potato salad too. Better yet, it would make a great cold pasta salad (leave out the potatoes) with chicken or tuna. Ooh, I’ll let you know when I try that.