Pamela Anderson’s vegetable bourguignon recipe is unfussy and comforting

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I can’t imagine not being drawn in by the title – I Love You – of Pamela Anderson’s first cookbook, and the image of Anderson smiling and bare-faced in jeans and a T-shirt, cross-legged on her kitchen table beside a pizza.

“What started out as a housewarming gift for my boys – a box of recipe cards, simply titled ‘I LOVE YOU’ … grew into a project that encapsulates all our favorite things,” she posted on Instagram, and wrote, in slightly different words, in the opening pages of her book.

Anderson lives on a six-acre waterfront property in Ladysmith, B.C. – the town where she was born. She describes her cookbook as “nothing fancy – plant-based family recipes and entertaining with a humble kind of joy.” And it is – approachable, unfussy and comforting, filled with gorgeous photos of her food, her gardens, the Vancouver Island landscape and Anderson herself in a way I’ve never seen her: comfortable and happy at home, cooking for and with people she loves. The book begins with Waking with the Sun, Chapter 2 is titled Picnic in the Garden, the third is Afternoon Tea, and so on.

The first recipe I made was an incredibly rich vegetable bourguignon with mash from Chapter 6: Comfort Food for Cozy Days. Celeriac root makes a delicious mash – as does rutabaga, parsnips and of course potatoes, or any combination of these. You’ll need it to help with the gravy, which is incredibly flavourful from the mushrooms and veg. I strayed a bit from the recipe and finished the bourguignon in the style of Julia Child, holding the mushrooms back while the rest of the stew simmered, and half-quartered, half-slicing them into a large skillet to brown in plant butter and stir them into the bourguignon before serving. Julia does this with mushrooms and peeled pearl onions at the very end – I feel like Pamela would approve. As she expresses on the back cover, the most important ingredient is love.

Vegetable Bourguignon with Mash

Cooking with wine always feels elegant and elevated. Serve with your mashed vegetable – potatoes, parsnips or celery root (also known as celeriac). I enjoy sneaking in new things for my family to try – even if they don’t know what they are. My dad had no idea he was eating mashed parsnips instead of his regular potatoes at a Sunday meal … and almost fainted when I told him. Gotcha! (Excerpted from I Love You: Recipes from the Heart by Pamela Anderson.)

Bourguignon:

1/3 ounce (10 g) dried porcini mushrooms

2 1/2 cups (600 ml) boiling water

2 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 large carrots, cut into chunks

2 celery stalks, cut into chunks

Fine sea salt

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 cup (240 ml) red wine

1 pound 10 ounces (750 g) fresh mushrooms (any kind), thinly sliced

6 sprigs thyme

1 sprig rosemary

2 bay leaves

½ small bunch (about 100 g) lacinato kale, centre ribs removed, leaves chopped

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

Chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnishing

Mash:

3½ pounds (1.6 kg) celeriac (about 2)

6 garlic cloves, sliced

1/4 cup (50 g) plant butter

3 tbsp plant sour cream

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Make the bourguignon: Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Place the dried porcini mushrooms in a small heatproof bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Set aside to soak while you cook the vegetables.

Warm the olive oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden, about five minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute. Add the carrot, celery, and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender.

Stir in the tomato paste and flour and cook for another minute. Pour in the wine, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any golden bits. Add the soaking liquid from the porcini mushrooms (give the porcinis a quick chop and add them as well) along with the sliced fresh mushrooms. Tie the thyme, rosemary and bay leaves into a little bundle with a piece of twine, and add to the pot. Cover the pot and put in the oven to cook until the vegetables are very tender and the stew has thickened slightly, 20 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the mash: Peel the celeriac and cut into large chunks. Place them in a medium saucepan with the garlic and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, until tender when poked with a fork, about 15 minutes. Drain. Return the drained celeriac and garlic to the pot, add the plant butter and plant sour cream, and mash until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the bourguignon from the oven. Mix in the kale, cover the pot and return it to the oven to cook for a final 10 minutes or so, until the kale is tender. Stir in the vinegar and season with pepper and ½ teaspoon salt. Taste and add another little pinch of salt if you like.

Serve the bourguignon garnished with chopped parsley alongside the celeriac mash.

Serves 6.