Keep this handy for your Thanksgiving table! Yum!
I love Gratins – sweet and savory. There is nothing more soothing on a cold, nasty and gloomy day than a dish such as this – ooey-gooey, warm and satiating – healthy (well it does have cheese and cream) – and gluten-free, too!
Ok, so I proved to myself that I can indeed do something productive on a rainy day. Focus, focus, focus. Today was a good example of how to divert oneself from moaning and sulking over the weather. Once you get an idea or two into your head and start working, the impact of the weather will indeed begin to drop away. Then you have something fun and tasty to show for your time!
Tonight I was looking around and saw Food 52’s Pear and Potato Gratin. I decided to do it with sweet potatoes since I didn’t have any Yukon Golds in the house. I wondered for a minute about the affinities between the sweet potatoes and pears – but no worries – this dish was a big hit!
SWEET POTATO AND PEAR GRATIN – GLUTEN FREE – adapted from Food 52
1 large sweet potato, sliced very thin
2 bosc pears, peeled and sliced thin
one large onion, sliced very thin
2 tblsp butter
1 cup light cream or half and half
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
6 grinds fresh nutmeg
1 1/2 cups gruyere or Comte cheese, grated
butter for preparing pan
Preheat oven to 375F. Butter a baking dish liberally.
In a skillet saute the onion, sliced very thin in the 2 tblsp butter for about 10 minutes until it is soft and browned. Set aside. In a small saucepan, reduce the light cream by 1/3 over simmering heat. Add the pepper, salt and nutmeg. Remove from the heat and add 1/2 cup of the cheese. Stir in. Set aside.
Layer 1/3 of the sweet potatoes in the bottom of your baking pan or au gratin pan. Top with half of the sliced pears. Top with the caramelized onions. Add the 2nd 1/3 of the potatoes followed with the balance of the pears. Top with the last 1/3 of the potatoes. Pour the cream/cheese mixture over. Top with balance of the cheese. Bake covered for 1 hour. Remember to butter or spray the surface of the aluminum foil to prevent the cheese from sticking. Remove top and bake for another 20 minutes or until the top is browned and bubbling and the potatoes are cooked through and tender. This is excellent!
Can’t help but share my awesome Carlo Moretti glasses – just arrived from Tremezzo via Murano – I’m so excited to have these fabulous momentos from our trip in September. These were on the table as water glasses at Hotel Tremezzo. Such an extraordinary place – such extraordinary memories!!
