Thank goodness for gratins, those delectable, French-inspired casseroles that pair cheese and vegetables in mouthwatering ways. They’re a big step up flavorwise from plain veggies, but not complicated to prepare.
Basically, the vegetables are placed in a shallow, oval baking dish called a gratin dish and topped with grated cheese and bread crumbs. Then the dish bakes until the ingredients are heated and the top is crusty and lightly browned.
Most often the vegetables are cooked before assembly. Sometimes, a cheesy white sauce is required. Sometimes not.
The cauliflower au gratin from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck (1961), uses a white sauce. The dish can be made in advance and heated 30 minutes before serving, making it great for entertaining. It’s delicious with simple roasts and grilled poultry, fish, pork or beef. Or it can be the centerpiece of a vegetarian banquet.
The base sauce of this creamy gratin is augmented with grated Swiss cheese. When cheese is added, it’s called mornay sauce. Once you’ve made it a couple of times, it becomes a simple dish: Blanch the cauliflower florets in boiling water until tender-crisp, drain and cover with mornay sauce, then sprinkle with bread crumbs and more grated Swiss cheese. When it bakes, the top gets crusty and the interior becomes delightfully rich.
The technique in this recipe is a blueprint for a cream sauce-style gratin that can be made with sweet potatoes or butternut squash. But because the sweet potatoes or squash aren’t cooked before assembly, you’ll need to make a thinner cream sauce. The sauce is absorbed by the vegetables as they bake, giving them a wonderful flavor and a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Or eliminate the cream sauce and create flavor drama by either pumping up the topping with a combination of stronger cheeses or tossing the vegetables with some cream and garlic before layering them in the pan, then top with cheese and bread crumbs.
Fresh spinach gratin is fast and delicious. To save time, use ready-to-use spinach leaves sold in plastic bags in the produce section. Drain and place spinach in a thin layer in a gratin pan and cover with a mixture of crumbled feta cheese, blue cheese, Edam cheese, bread crumbs and herbs. Bake until topping is toasty brown. It’s so delicious, you can even serve it on small slices of rustic bread as an appetizer.
Or toss thinly sliced zucchini with cream, shallots and garlic and place in a gratin pan. Top with grated cheese and bake until zucchini is tender and topping is brown and crunchy.
BAKED SPINACH WITH THREE CHEESES
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup each: crumbled feta cheese, grated Edam cheese
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons each: chopped fresh dill, fresh bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 packages (10 ounces each) ready-to-use fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix onion, feta, Edam and blue cheeses, egg yolk, dill, bread crumbs and nutmeg in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add spinach; cook until wilted and juices evaporate, about 3 minutes. Transfer to strainer; drain well.
3. Arrange spinach in lightly buttered 12-inch oval gratin pan or an 11- by 7-inch baking dish. Top with onion mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.
4. Heat broiler. Broil spinach about 6 inches from heat until cheese is golden brown on top, watching closely to prevent burning, about 2 minutes. Serve warm or hot. For an appetizer, use spinach as topping on thin, small slices of rustic bread.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …… 230 Fat …… 18 g Cholesterol .. 85 mg
Sodium ….. 400 mg
CAULIFLOWER GRATIN
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Adapted from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 1,” by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck.
1 head cauliflower, trimmed, cut into florets
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese, plus 2 tablespoons
Salt, white pepper to taste
Pinch ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons fine bread crumbs
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Heat 4 quarts water to a boil in large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add cauliflower. Boil until cauliflower is cooked tender-crisp, about 9 minutes. Drain, refresh with cold water. Drain again.
2. For bechamel sauce, heat milk to boil in medium saucepan. Remove from heat; set aside. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in heavy-bottomed, large saucepan on medium heat. Add flour; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes (do not brown).
3. Remove from heat. Add hot milk in thin stream, whisking constantly. Increase heat to medium-high. Heat to boil, stirring constantly. Boil gently for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Stir in nutmeg.
4. Pour 1/3 of the sauce in a 12-inch oval gratin pan or an 11- by 7-inch baking dish. Add drained cauliflower in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper. Pour remaining sauce over top. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and cheese. Cut remaining tablespoon of butter into small pieces; sprinkle over cheese. (Gratin can be covered and refrigerated at this point for several hours.)
5. Bake 30 minutes. If you want a browner, crisper top, place under broiler, watching carefully to prevent burning.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …… 165 Fat …… 12 g Cholesterol .. 35 mg
Sodium ….. 185 mg
SWEET POTATO GRATIN
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
4 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing pan
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup whipping cream
4 sweet potatoes, peeled, sliced 1/4-inch thick
Salt, pepper to taste
1/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and stir until garlic is softened, but don’t brown. Stir in flour; cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cream. Return to heat; stir until mixture reaches low boil.
2. Place sweet potato slices in greased 12-inch oval gratin pan or 11- by 7-inch baking dish. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce evenly over top.
3. Bake 1 hour. Remove from oven; sprinkle with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Melt remaining tablespoon of the butter; drizzle over top. Bake 15 minutes.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …… 260 Fat …… 18 g Cholesterol .. 60 mg
Sodium ….. 180 mg
