Ingredients
- 2 medium-sized rutabagas
- 2 medium-sized turnips (about 3 pounds total of rutabagas and turnips together)
- 3 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch of ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 2 fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves chopped (about 2 teaspoon)
- leaves of fresh thyme sprigs (about 2 teaspoon)
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Cut the ends off the rutabagas and turnips, and peel them with a knife. Then slice them as thin as possible, using a mandoline if you’ve got one. The slices don’t all need to be perfect: if you end up with some nice pieces and some weird shapes, just save the good-looking ones for the top of the gratin and bury the others.
Combine the cream, maple syrup, cayenne, and nutmeg in a medium-sized pot, and heat over a medium flame.
While the cream-maple syrup mixture is heating, grease the bottom and sides of an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with the butter.
Pile the root vegetables into a large bowl and toss them with the salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme.
When the cream mixture comes to a boil, arrange one- third of the root vegetables in the baking dish. Pour a third of the cream mixture over the vegetables, and sprinkle with a third of the Parmesan (about 2 tablespoons). Then add another third of the root vegetables, and so on. Remember to save the best-looking vegetables for the top layer. And don’t overfill the dish: the cream should stop just below the top, so it doesn’t bubble over in the oven.
Cover the baking dish with tin foil and put it on the middle oven rack. After half an hour, uncover the dish, then let it keep baking for another hour or so, until the top is browned and there’s only a little bit of liquid left inside.
You can serve the gratin as soon as it’s cool enough to handle, but it’s better to let it settle for a while, so the turnips absorb a little more of the liquid.
Recipe courtesy of American Flavor by Andrew Carmellini/Ecco, 2011.
