Papal Lung Casserole with Nodule
Based on:
TypeMain course
Serves4 people
DateOctober 11, 2026
A casserole that visibly forms a lung with a nodule: warm, creamy and comforting for a disastrous day.
A comforting oven dish of creamy mashed potatoes, clearly depicting a lung with a nodule: half a sausage as the trachea, two curved aubergines as lungs, and a round tomato as the nodule. Warm and soothing, echoing the news of the papal surgery.
Ingredients
- 1 kg starchy potatoes
- 100 ml milk
- 50 g butter
- 2 aubergines
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 smoked sausage (about 275 g)
- 1 large vine tomato
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Peel and boil the potatoes in plenty of salted water until tender.
- Slice the aubergines lengthwise. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 20 minutes at 200°C until soft.
- Finely chop the onion and garlic. Sauté in a pan with some oil until translucent.
- Drain the potatoes, add milk, butter, salt and pepper, and mash until creamy.
- Slice the smoked sausage lengthwise. Blanch briefly in hot water if cold.
- Spoon the mash into a large oval baking dish. Make a groove in the middle for the 'trachea'.
- Lay the halved sausage as the trachea diagonally on one side of the dish.
- Arrange the roasted aubergine halves as curved lungs on either side of the sausage, pressed lightly into the mash.
- Place the tomato as a round nodule on one aubergine half.
- Sprinkle with smoked paprika and bake for another 10 minutes at 200°C.
- Serve warm, keeping the lung silhouette clear.
Serving notes
- Serve directly from the dish to keep the lung shape intact.
- Optionally, serve with an extra spoon of warm milk for added comfort.