When it’s 25 degrees below and there’s a foot of snow outside, you’re not motivated to go food shopping. This is my take on what a homemaker who lived in a flyover state and didn’t feel like digging out her car made for dinner during long winters in the ’60s and ’70s. It’s comforting, creamy, starchy, filling, and delicious. The perfect meal to energize you for a key party.
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup whole milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (1/8 inch) on a Mandoline or the side of a box grater (Slices should look like really skinny American footballs.)
1 cup veggie crumbles (or grate/crumble some veggie burgers or tempeh)
½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
Truffle salt/truffle oil/truffle butter … just, truffle something
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan on medium heat. Add the onion along with a pinch of salt and sauté for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
3. Combine the butter and milk in a small saucepan. Heat until the butter has melted, then whisk in the cream of mushroom soup until combined.
4. Place half of the sautéed onions in the bottom of a 9-inch baking dish. Cover the onions with a layer of sliced potatoes. Cover the potatoes with the veggie crumbles and ¼ cup of the cheese. Pour half the cream of mushroom mixture over.
5. Top the mushroom mixture with a layer of potatoes, and then repeat the same layering process again. Cover the whole thing with the rest of the cream of mushroom mixture.
6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top has browned.
7. Serve with a pinch of truffle salt, a splash of truffle oil, or a thin pat of truffle butter.
TRY THE TIP: Make it vegan by using 1¼ cups mushroom soup instead of anything with cream or butter, and sub Daiya for cheese.