To me, the heart and soul of a hotdish — which my friends call ‘reverse poutine’ — is really about using what you have on hand. Whatever you choose, leave a little bite to the vegetables so you get some different textures.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings (plus extra sauce) |
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chopped lemongrass
- 1/2 cup chopped white onion
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped galangal
- 1/4 cup sliced fresh ginger
- 1/4 cup garlic cloves (6 to 10 cloves)
- 6 to 8 kaffir lime leaves
- 1/3 cup red curry paste (such as Mae Ploy brand)
- 2 roasted red peppers, roughly chopped
- 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
- 8 cups canned coconut milk (such as Chaokoh brand)
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound lean ground pork shoulder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup chopped white onion
- 2 cups chopped root vegetables, such as carrots, turnips, rutabaga and/or celery root (about 1-inch pieces)
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 16-ounce bag frozen tater tots
- Chopped fresh cilantro, sliced scallions and lime wedges, for garnish
Instructions
- Make the sauce: Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the lemongrass, onion, galangal, ginger, garlic and lime leaves. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, just until a fond forms on the bottom of the pan, about 2 minutes, being careful not to burn the aromatics. When the curry paste is a crimson red, stir in the roasted red peppers and tomatoes. Add the coconut milk, bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce is reduced, pale orange and bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the lime leaves.
- Carefully transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and season with salt to taste. (For a thicker sauce, cook a few minutes more to further reduce.)
- Make the hotdish: Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork, season with salt and pepper and cook, breaking up the meat, until no longer pink, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, toss the onion and root vegetables with the olive oil on a baking sheet; season with salt and pepper. Roast until just tender but still with a little bite, 12 to 15 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 375˚ F. In a large bowl, combine the pork, roasted vegetables and 2 cups of the curry sauce; the mixture should have the consistency of a stew. Transfer to a 3-quart casserole dish, packing the mixture down, then scatter the tater tots evenly on top.
- Bake until the tater tots are golden and cooked through, about 20 minutes. Once out of the oven, top the hotdish with cilantro, scallions and lime wedges.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 897 |
| Total Fat | 81 g |
| Saturated Fat | 62 g |
| Carbohydrates | 34 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 6 g |
| Protein | 23 g |
| Cholesterol | 55 mg |
| Sodium | 1426 mg |
Reviews
This is a terrific recipe. It makes 8 cups curry sauce and you need 2 cups; I froze the rest to use in the future. That’s nice because the sauce was labor intensive, so cutting that step in the future was nice. I used turnip, rutabaga, and carrot; I’d add more veggies. I used lime zest instead of the k-lime leaves and dried galangal (8 teaspoons) instead of fresh.
This is delicious
This is delicious. But the recipe makes WAY more curry sauce than is called for. 8 cups of coconut milk, plus all the other ingredients, and then you only use 2 cups in the dish? I’ve been using the leftover for dumpling soup, but it’s really too rich with all that coconut milk. I’m open to other suggestions, but if I make this again, I’d cut the curry ingredient list in half.