Rahmgemüse mit Kartoffeln (creamed vegetables with potatoes)
A German comfort dish, mixed vegetables bound in a light cream sauce next to boiled potatoes, the vegetables cooked separately from the sauce so each stays distinct rather than turning into a single stewed mass. Reducing the cream sauce until it visibly coats a spoon before combining with the vegetables is what keeps the dish from being watery once served.
Prep15 min
Cook30 min
Servings4
Christoph's creamed vegetables with potatoes, the sauce reduced until it visibly coats a spoon before combining with the vegetables.
Ingredients
Written for a 3 L pot
Units
Temperature
Servings
Potatoes
- 800 g waxy potatoes, peeled, halved or quartered rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
Creamed vegetables
- 250 g carrot, sliced into rounds rounded
- 250 g cauliflower, cut into florets rounded
- 200 g peas, fresh or frozen rounded
- 30 g butter rounded
- 200 ml vegetable broth rounded
- 200 ml heavy cream rounded
- 2 g grated nutmeg rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
- to taste freshly ground white pepper rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Cover the potatoes with cold salted water and simmer for 20 minutes, until a knife slides in without resistance. Drain and keep warm.
- Melt the butter in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the carrot and cook for 5 minutes. Add the cauliflower and broth, cover, and simmer for 8 minutes, until both are tender but still holding their shape.
- Stir in the peas and cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the cream and simmer, uncovered, for 5 to 8 minutes, until the sauce visibly coats the back of a spoon.
- Season with nutmeg, salt and white pepper. Serve alongside the boiled potatoes.
Notes
- Reduce the cream sauce until it actually coats a spoon. A thin, unreduced sauce pools around the potatoes and makes the plate look and taste watery; reducing it properly is the difference between a sauce and cream-flavoured water.
- Cook the vegetables in stages by how long they take, carrots first, then cauliflower, then quick-cooking peas last, so nothing turns to mush waiting for the slowest vegetable.
- Keep the potatoes separate from the vegetables until serving. Boiling them together in the cream sauce releases starch that thickens it unpredictably and makes the potatoes waterlogged.
- Leftovers reheat gently, but the sauce may need loosening with a splash of broth since it thickens further in the fridge.
Ingredient substitutions
- Carrot, cauliflower and peas can be swapped for any combination of vegetables that cook in a similar time, such as green beans or kohlrabi.
- Heavy cream can be replaced with a plant-based cream alternative for a dairy-free version, though the sauce will be thinner.
- A pinch of grated lemon zest stirred in at the end brightens the sauce.
From Christoph Mayer