Comfort food perfected: Pork neck casserole delight

After this casserole, even the loudest stomach growls will quickly be silenced. Under the cheesy layer, there's a lot happening - there's ground pork neck, filling potatoes, tender mushrooms, and creamy béchamel sauce. It's the perfect solution for a dinner on a day when the temperature outside is dropping. A serving of homemade casserole will quickly warm the body and restore the energy lost to the cold.

Potato Casserole with Ground Pork Neck and Mushrooms is a dish that works every time. Just toss the prepared ingredients into an oven-safe dish and have a little patience while it bakes. When you take it out of the oven, the hot and steaming casserole will make your mouth water right away.

In this recipe, I use ground pork neck. It's quite fatty and adds wonderful juiciness to the casserole. You can grind the pork neck yourself, ask for it at the butcher shop, or replace it with another ground meat, such as shoulder.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of potatoes,
• 750 g of mushrooms,
• half a teaspoon of salt for mushrooms,
• 750 g of ground pork neck,
• half a teaspoon of salt for pork neck,
• 2 tablespoons of oil,
• 1 heaping teaspoon of sweet paprika,
• half a teaspoon of hot paprika,
• 1 flat teaspoon of oregano,
• 1 flat teaspoon of dried rosemary,
• 2 cloves of garlic.

Béchamel sauce:

• 750 mL of milk,
• 50 g of butter,
• 30 g of all-purpose flour,
• 140 g of grated parmesan,
• half a teaspoon of salt,
• a pinch of nutmeg.

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the ground pork neck.
2. Season with salt, hot and sweet paprika, oregano, and rosemary, and sauté for 5 minutes.
3. Transfer the cooked meat to an oven-safe dish.
4. Peel the potatoes, cut them into medium-sized cubes, and boil in salted water until they start to soften but are not overcooked.
5. Slice the mushrooms, toss them into the skillet, and season with salt. Sauté until all the water evaporates.
6. Transfer the mushrooms to the meat.
7. In the oven-safe dish, combine the mushrooms, add potatoes, 2/3 of the grated parmesan, and pressed garlic, and mix everything.
8. Heat the milk until it's slightly warm.
9. Melt the butter in a skillet. Add flour and salt and sauté until the mixture starts to bubble.
10. Pour in the warm milk, stirring the sauce. Season with nutmeg and cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Remember to stir to prevent burning.
11. Pour the hot sauce over the oven-safe dish. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan and let sit for a few minutes to allow the sauce to seep into the casserole.
12. Place in an oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius in a top-bottom setting.
13. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Serve the ready casserole warm. Enjoy your meal!