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Turnip and Sweet Potato Gratin with Gruyere

Turnip and Sweet Potato Gratin with Gruyere
Turnip and Sweet Potato Gratin with Gruyère , Broth and dry White Wine

An easy way to introduce and ease picky eaters to try new vegetables sometimes requires a little bit of creativity and maybe some taste-bud psychology.     The idea is not to disguise its true flavors and challenge its nutritional benefits, but to gently ease the idea of something new. Gratins sometimes do the heavy lifting for you by adding aromatic and flavorful spices, cheeses, broth and wine to the dish.

I had some turnips resting on the verge of too long in the refrigerator.   This was a good dish to utilize some tasty vegetables and introduce turnips to Hubby for the first time.    Turnips are high in vitamin C.  See my past post on the health benefits of sweet potatoes in the Roasted Parmesan Sweet Potato recipe.

I’m starting to become more fond of sweet potatoes and enjoyed the turnips in this dish.   If you’re a fan of Gruyère you can probably appreciate what this dish delivers in combination with the turnips, sweet potatoes, chicken/vegetable broth and small amount of white wine used in the gratin.     Also, adding some paprika between the layers of turnips and sweet potatoes may take this dish up a notch.

I served this sophisticated gratin with some juicy filet mignons (grilled to perfection by the Grill Maestro, himself!), some green beans and lovely glasses of Blackstone’s Pinot Noir (an Old Vine Lodi Zinfandel from Cameron Hughes would be spot on too).

Turnip and Sweet Potato Gratin with Gruyère

source text modified from Everyday Food, December 2010 Issue

Makes 6-8 Servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds turnips, about 3-4 medium, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 pound sweet potatoes, about 2 medium, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
sea salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup dry white wine

1 cup grated Gruyère cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with non-stick spray.

Arrange turnips and sweet potatoes in a single layer, overlapping the slices slightly. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with one-third of the flour. Repeat to make three more layers, sprinkling with the salt, pepper and flour between layers.

Dot the top layer with butter cubes. Slowly pour the broth and wine into the dish, careful to keep the layers in tact. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake until the vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes.

Remove baking dish from oven and increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Carefully remove the foil from the top of the baking dish and evenly distribute the grated cheese over the top layer. Bake until the cheese is golden and bubbly, about 12-15 minutes.

Let the gratin sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

Turnip and Sweet Potato Gratin with Gruyere

Turnips and Sweet Potatoes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Erin Witha Q says

    I. Love. This. Recipe.
    I saw this recipe last week and knew I had to try it. It is phenomenal!! I didn’t have white wine or gruyere so I substituted mead and a muenster/havarti blend. I also multiplied the entire recipe by 1.5 so I used a bit more cheese and mead. This was a huge hit in my house, my roommates and guest from out of town all loved it! I have a feeling this will be making an appearance on my table come Thanksgiving. And probably a lot before. 🙂
    The mead and cheese blend was a perfect compliment to the root vegetable flavor from the turnips as well as the sweetness from the potatoes, and it was all so perfectly soft and delicious! I can almost taste it now…

  3. Mrs. Dohpaz says

    Looks amazing! Definitely will have to give it a try. Never have had Gruyere cheese before… I’ve been seeing a lot of recipes that call for it lately, may be time to try that out as well.

  5. Melissa says

    This looked so good I just had to make it last night!:) Yum!!! It was a big hit. I added a drizzle of truffle oil which was nice.

  8. Rachel says

    This looks sinfully delicious. My dad’s birthday is coming up and he is a huge fan of sweet potatoes and potato gratin. Perfect!

  12. Tiffany says

    Oh Cristina, this recipe touches my soul! Hehehehe. In all seriousness, there’s nothing NOT to like (I know double negatives are a big no no… :D). Sweet potato + gruyere = heaven (at least in Tiffany’s world)!

  14. Monet says

    So my mom adores turnips (her grandfather use to eat them raw) and she LOVES cheese. She loves cheese more than anyone I know. Without a doubt, this recipe would make her float up to foodie heaven! Thank you for sharing yet another tempting and beautiful dish. I’m bookmarking this so I can make it for when she comes back to Texas!

  16. redkathy says

    Oh that looks yummy! Have enjoyed turnips a few times and really enjoy sweet potatoes. Will have to try this especially since my dad is a gratin lover!

  20. Cristina says

    I don’t care much for turnip, but cooked these way they must be absolutely delicious…I shouldn’t look at your blog when I’m hungry…!

  25. Chef Dennis says

    hi Cristina
    now that is certainly thinking outside the box! Turnips and sweet potatoes must have made a wonderful base for that gratin….in all its ooey gooey cheesy glory!!
    your images make me even more hungry they look soooo good!
    Cheers
    Dennis

  26. Hester aka The Chefdoc says

    Mmm, be still my heart! This looks so good! I’ve always been wanting to dive more into the turnip water and like you said, I think this is a good way to ease someone new in 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing! Happy 2011!

  28. El says

    As a bonafide cheese addict, I have to say, this looks sensational. I love the idea of using sweet potatoes. Perfect!

  29. Jean says

    Cristina, gosh, does this ever look good! Two veggies I love but have never paired with cheese, gruyere, no less. I love it!

  33. Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking says

    Oh Cristina, this looks so warm and comforting and absolutely delicious! I love that you took a dish that is normally made with potatoes and put your own little spin on it. It’s beautiful, but I bet it tastes even better than it looks. Definitely something I need to try! Thanks for sharing!

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