We love to eat leeks. Out of all the vegetables, leeks are one of the vegetables that we have every week. Usually, I make leek stew with different ingredients, such as meat, sausages, potato, and barley. But, sometimes, we’re in the mood for something different and then I make a casserole. 

Actually, this is not really a casserole, but that’s the most similar meal description I could find. In Croatian, we call this type of meal “složenac”. The rough translation would be “something put together”, and actually that is a perfect description. “Složenac” is just that, a meal made by adding a bunch of ingredients and baking them together with cream and eggs. It can be made in any pot or pan.

I like to make leek casserole because it’s fairly easy and quickly done. The baking itself may take some time, but the preparation is very quick and easy. I usually make casserole when I don’t have lots of time to watch over the pot and stir often. I just mix the ingredients together, and I can work on something else while the pan is in the oven.

To make casserole I first boil the leeks for a few minutes. This step can be skipped, but I like to boil them first so that the leeks don’t let out too much water during baking. This is important when leeks are very young and have a lot of water inside. If the leeks are older I sometimes just skip this part and just slice the leeks.

Once the leeks have been boiled, I place them inside a baking pan that was previously coated with butter, then I add some sausages or bacon, ham, or just whatever salami I have at home.

On top of the leeks and sausages, I add sliced tomatoes and finish the mixture with some cheese. The type of cheese depends on the cheese my hubby finds in the store. We buy whichever variety is on sale. This time he bought Mozzarella, but sometimes I use Emmental, gouda, or even cottage cheese if there is nothing else at home. 

To tie the ingredients together I make a mixture of eggs, milk, and sour cream. For a standard pie pan, I use 5 eggs, 2 sour cream cups(360g/ 12.7oz), and a bit of milk just to make it easier to pour over the leeks. I also add salt, pepper, and garlic to the mixture.

I bake the casserole in a preheated oven for 20-30 minutes at 180°C(356°F). My oven is a fan oven so it bakes more quickly, conventional ovens could take up to 45 minutes to bake.

Once the casserole is baked it can be eaten right away. Actually the hotter it is the better it tastes. The mixture of tomatoes, leeks, and cheese work surprisingly well, and as long as the sausages don’t have a too strong taste all the flavors will blend perfectly. We usually eat this casserole at lunch so that we can have leftovers for dinner, but it can also work great as dinner and can be microwaved the next day.