Zuurkoolovenschotel

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Ovenproof baking dish, about 28 x 20 cm
• •Large potato pan
• •Wide frying pan
• •Potato masher

Instructions

1. 1

   Boil the potatoes

   Put the potatoes in a large pan of salted water, bring to a boil, and cook for about 20 minutes until a knife slips through without argument. Drain them well and let them sit in the hot pan for a minute so excess water escapes. Watery mash makes a loose casserole, and the oven cannot repair that.

2. 2

   Taste the zuurkool

   Taste the drained zuurkool. If it is sharply sour, rinse it briefly under cold water and squeeze it dry; if it is pleasantly bright, leave it alone. Spread it in the bottom of a buttered baking dish. Sourness is not a problem here, it is the reason the dish exists.

   Do not boil the zuurkool first unless it is very tough. It will soften in the oven, and keeping a little bite gives the casserole its winter character.
3. 3

   Brown the gehakt

   Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a frying pan and cook the onion until soft and lightly golden. Add the gehakt, minced meat, and fry it until browned with small dark edges, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Stir in the salt, pepper, nutmeg, clove, and mustard. The spice should sit in the background like a good footnote: present, useful, not waving at you.

4. 4

   Layer the dish

   Spoon the spiced meat over the zuurkool, then lay the apple slices over the meat. The apple is not decoration. Its sweetness softens the sour cabbage and catches the nutmeg in the meat, which is exactly the old Dutch bargain between thrift and pleasure.

5. 5

   Mash the potatoes

   Mash the drained potatoes with the warm milk and 50g butter until smooth enough to spread but not whipped into paste. Taste for salt. Spoon the mash over the apple layer and draw soft ridges across the top with a fork, because ridges brown better than flat politeness.

6. 6

   Bake until golden

   Scatter the grated Gouda over the mash and bake at 200C for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cheese is melted, the ridges are golden, and the edges show a little bubbling. Let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. A casserole straight from the oven collapses like a bad argument; a rested one cuts cleanly.

Chef Tips

• •Use floury potatoes such as Bintje, Agria, or Maris Piper. Waxy potatoes make a stubborn mash, and this dish wants a soft potato blanket, not a tiled roof.
• •Taste the zuurkool before rinsing. Supermarket sauerkraut varies wildly; rinsing a mild one turns it timid, while leaving a fierce one alone can bully the whole dish.
• •A tart apple matters. Elstar or Jonagold works well in the Netherlands; Granny Smith is acceptable if that is what the shop gives you. Sweet apples disappear into sugar.
• •If you prefer rookworst, slice one and layer it over the sauerkraut instead of the gehakt. Different supper, same winter logic.
• •Serve with extra mustard at the table and a dark beer or a dry cider. Wine can come too, but it should have enough backbone to meet the cabbage.

Advance Preparation

• •Assemble the casserole up to 24 hours ahead, cover, and refrigerate. Bake from cold at 190C for 40 to 45 minutes, loosely covered for the first 20 minutes.
• •Leftovers keep for 3 days in the refrigerator and reheat best covered in a moderate oven until the centre is hot.
• •The meat layer can be cooked a day ahead. The mash is best made fresh, since chilled potato can become stiff and sulky.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 480g)