Gizzi Erskine says: ‘Playing around with root vegetables in a gratin is a great way to really understand them. I’ve replaced the traditional lamb stock and fat with a vegetable stock pumped up with miso and oat cream, which you can buy or make yourself. The flavour of the oat is what I want here, not the creaminess, and oat and parsnip are dreamy together. This dish is a good way to show how we often overlook the flavours of the modern plant-based movement. This gratin is superb as a main dish for a supper or served as a side dish.’
DETAILS
Serves 4 as a side dish
Preparation time 15 minutes
Cooking lime 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tbsp oil
- 4 shallots, very thinly sliced
- 500g parsnips, cut into very fine rounds (ideally using a mandoline or a food processor with a thin slicing attachment)
- 500ml fresh vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp white miso paste
- ½ tsp salt
- 250ml oat cream
- few sprigs of thyme
- freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
- Start by sweating the shallots. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat, add the shallots and cook gently for about 20 minutes, stirring regularly, until beautifully soft and caramelised.
- Add the sliced parsnips (I don’t think they need peeling – the peel adds a nice texture) to a separate saucepan, along with the stock, miso paste and salt. Bring to the boil then take off the heat immediately. Drain the parsnips, reserving the stock. Return the stock to the pan and cook over a high heat until the volume has reduced to about 150ml and the stock has a thick, syrupy consistency.
- While the stock is reducing, you can start constructing the dish. Once the parsnips are cool enough to handle, take a gratin dish (about 2 litre capacity) and make a layer of parsnips on the bottom, two or three parsnip slices thick. Spoon over a thin layer of the shallots, season with pepper and the leaves from the sprigs of thyme. Repeat this process until you have used everything up.
- To finish the sauce, add the oat cream to the stock and allow to reduce further for a couple of minutes until thickened slightly. Pour this over the parsnips and put the dish in the oven to bake for 20 minutes, until the top is crisp and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to sit for a couple of minutes before serving.
Recipe adapted from Restore by Gizzi Erskine (£25, HQ). Photography by Issy Croker.