Gratin of Winter Vegetables

Introduction

The flavour of this gratin is exceptionally delicious – the sweetness of carrots, parsnips and celeriac is tempered with the earthiness of the vegetables and the resinous scent of rosemary. If you are a meat-eater, this is the dish to serve with roast beef. Before starting the recipe, be sure you know how thinly to slice the vegetables by checking the photos of the finished dish. Use a large sharp knife, or for ease and speed, a mandoline.

Serves: 8

Ingredients

400g, about 3 medium, (14 oz) potatoes, peeled
Flaky sea salt
1 Tbsp chopped rosemary
1 medium celeriac, about 700g, (1½ lb)
1 small swede, about 350g (12 oz), peeled
2 carrots, about 250g (8 oz), peeled
3 parsnips, about 200g (7 oz), peeled (remove any woody cores)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
300ml (about 10 fl oz) double cream
1 cup water
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 Tbsp butter

Method

Seriously, as this bakes in the oven, pull up a chair and enjoy the gorgeous aromas given off as it cooks to tenderness. If you close your peepers you could kid yourself that you are in a French farmhouse kitchen and a rosy-cheeked, ample-bosomed, bonne maman is fussing around cooking a feast. It’s cheaper than travel.

1 Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). and put a baking sheet (tray) in the oven underneath the rack where the gratin will go (to catch any spillages). Choose a gratin dish with a 3.5-4 litre (6-7 pint) capacity. Thinly slice potatoes, put them in the bottom of the gratin dish, and sprinkle with a little salt and rosemary. Remove the peel and greenery from the celeriacusing a large, sharp knife. Wash the board and knife if dirt is present, then cut celeriac into quarters, then slice thinly. Transfer celeriac to a large bowl. Thinly slice remaining vegetables, discarding any woody centres from parsnips, and add to the bowl. Sprinkle vegetables generously with salt and add remaining rosemary and a good grind or two of black pepper. Toss well and tip the vegetables into the gratin dish (I don’t bother with arranging the top layer; I like the rustic look!).

2 Mix cream, water and crushed garlic and pour over the vegetables. Dot top of vegetables with butter, cover with aluminium foil and cook for 1 hour, or until nearly tender. (Remove gratin from oven, carefully lift foil and check tenderness of vegetables.) Once vegetables are nearly tender, remove tin foil and return dish to oven and cook for about 20 minutes more, or until vegetables are tender and lightly browned on top.

Recipe Notes

The vegetables must be sliced thinly for them to cook through in time. Keep the potatoes on the bottom of the gratin as they tend to darken when on the top. It’s a winter gratin, so any sort of winter potato should do the trick. No celeriac? Add more potato, carrot and parsnip. And, here’s a good trick – if your tin foil is not wide enough to cover your dish, join two pieces of foil together then lay something ovenproof along the seam line to stop the foil from puffing up during cooking. Stainless steel tongs work a treat.