Welsh Anglesey Eggs and mashed potato casserole

Welsh Anglesey Eggs and mashed potato casserole, if comfort food is your thing you don't want to miss out on this. Think about it, creamy mashed potato with steamed leaks, topped with béchamel, boiled egg, Cheddar, and sliced green onion. Do I have your attention? I hope so!

Song of the day: "Love Me Do" by The Beatles

Brunch is beautiful!

I have so many wonderful memories of brunch with my family. We would go often and always enjoyed the plethora of great food and special celebrations and times together. I don't really know if this is a brunch dish in Wales, however I think it would be a good addition. I would even eat it for lunch, hey wait, we did eat it for lunch!

Eat The World goes to Wales

This month we are in Wales and I am so pleased to share with you the dish Welsh Anglesey Eggs and mashed potato casserole.

Welsh Anglesey Eggs

This classic Welsh recipe (Ŵyau Ynys Môn) is made of mashed potatoes, steamed leeks, boiled eggs, and a cheese sauce. Here are the ingredients you will need:

• eggs
• Russet potatoes
• leeks
• butter
• half & half cream
• milk
• nutmeg
• green onions

Kitchen utensils:

• large pot for boiling potatoes
• 2 small pots for boiling eggs, and steaming leeks
• sauce pan for the béchamel
• casserole baking dish
• whisk
• a few bowls
• wooden spoon
• spatula

Tips:

• If you happen to have some leftover mashed potatoes, this dish is a great way to use those up.
• You have enough béchamel to cover the whole top. Traditionally it is done this way most of the time.
• If your béchamel is too thick, just add more milk or water and whisk on a low heat.
• If your béchamel is too thin, in a small sauce pan make another roux of butter and flour, and add the thin béchamel to that, whisk until smooth, and pour back into your original pan.

Things to do for this Welsh Anglesey Eggs and mashed potato casserole

This dish is done in stages. The first tasks are this:

1. Firstly, we need to peel, wash and cut the potatoes. Then. they go into a pot and brought to a boil.
2. Secondly, the leeks need to be streamed. Clean, wash and chop the leeks. Place them in a small pot with water and a pat of butter. Season with salt and pepper, and give it a good stir with a wooden spoon.
3. Thirdly, the eggs go into a pot submerged in water. Our rule to the perfect egg is 9 minutes cooking time from the moment it starts to boil, into a bowl to cool. Peal eggs and set aside.
4. Once the potatoes are fork tender, drain, mash and add butter, milk, salt and pepper and whip to a creamy consistency.

Bodacious Béchamel!

The key to a great béchamel is the roux which is done by melting butter in a sauce pan and then sprinkling in flour and stirring until it becomes a paste and turns a light golden color. At this time in goes the milk and a fresh grating of nutmeg. A little seasoning of salt and pepper goes a long way. You have to keep whisking until smooth and thickening, then in goes half the Cheddar and yes, you guessed it, whisk away!

Assembling the Welsh Anglesey Eggs and mashed potato casserole

This is the really easy part. Here is how it goes:

• Oil the baking dish. Add leeks to potatoes and stir in. With a spatula scoop the mashed leek/potato into the baking dish. Smoothen out.

• Spoon béchamel on top of potato, cut eggs in half, sit into the sauce and potato, and dust with paprika.

• Drizzle with more béchamel and sprinkle grated Cheddar cheese. Finish with half the sliced green onion.
• Into a pre-heated 400°F/200°C oven. Bake until nice and golden on top. I like to turn the grill on for the last couple of minutes of baking.
• Take out of oven, garnish with last bit of green onion.
• Ready to serve.

Delicious comfort food

Coming out of the oven, the aroma was just killing us. Those wonderful leeks just smell so sweet. The crust on top just says utterly yummy! Do you see that melted cheddar and a bit of char on the eggs? This says nothing but flavor. We just have to dig in. Do you have your spoon ready? My spoon is locked and loaded, and gotta dive into this Welsh Anglesey Eggs and mashed potato casserole!

WOW!

You are going to have to excuse me. I am floating on cloud 9. Those potatoes are like silk to my tongue and taste just superb with morsels of sweet succulent leeks. Let's talk béchamel, buttery, nutty and that hint of nutmeg is just perfect. I like the addition of the sharp cheddar, so luxurious in the béchamel. The eggs are perfect and that touch of melted Cheddar on top offers nothing but sheer delight, with the green onion putting a lovely fresh accent to the mix.

Craving a comforting dish of goodness? This Welsh Anglesey Eggs and mashed potato casserole fits that bill so well. Try it, you'll love it!

Check out all the wonderful Welsh dishes prepared by fellow Eat the World members and share with #eattheworld. Click here to find out how to join and have fun exploring a country a month in the kitchen with us!

• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Cawl Cennin (Welsh-Style Leek & Potato Soup)
• Pandemonium Noshery: Welsh Onion Cake
• Sneha’s Recipe: Snowdon Pudding
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Ŵyau Ynys Môn, Welsh Anglesey Eggs
• Sugarlovespices (us!): Welsh Anglesey egg and mashed potato casserole
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Teison Nionod
• Kitchen Frau: Welsh Cakes (Skillet-Baked Currant Cookies)

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