Vegetable Au gratin is a French recipe, baked with veggies, white sauce as base and lots of cheese on top. The cheesy brown crust is achieved by baking at high temperatures or broiling.
What is the Gratin or Au Gratin?
Honestly, I don’t know the exact difference between these two. Anything which has a crusty top is called a gratin. This golden crust is often achieved by bread crumbs or cheese. Or to put in other words, cook meat pieces or veggies with lots of cream, milk and cheese(or precooked and crusted with cheese) is called an Au Gratin. And the same without cheese and may be achieved with breadcrumbs is called a simple gratin. In a gratin dish, the item is usually cooked with lots of creams.
Potato au gratin is the most popular of gratin recipes and it is made by baking potato(roasted or pre-baked) slices layered in between cheese.
How to get the perfect cheesy crust on Vegetable Au Gratin
Today I made mixed veg au gratin recipe using carrots, beans, peas, potato, and cauliflower with lots of Parmesan cheese.
Achieve this golden crust by cooking at high temperatures or broil a few seconds. And I flash cooked my veggies (roasted in butter for few mins and covered with a lid for two mins). This kind of fast cooking is enough to half cook the veggies. Ideally, the veggies should retain a crunchy feel. Do not add water while roasting. Otherwise, you will end up losing all nutrients from the veggies.
Next, we make the white sauce separately. Mix the veggies and sauce and bake at 400 degrees F for ten minutes covered with foil and ten minutes open baking. These last ten minutes of open baking at 400F gives a nice crust. Alternately you can just broil for just two minutes on low until you see the nice golden crust. Be careful here if you do broiling as there is a high risk of burning the cheese.
Which cookware to use?
I used a 13″×9″ rectangular glass casserole. Use any round or square or rectangular pan with a capacity of 3 quarts.
If you are planning to use a broiler, remember to remove the foil without fail and use a broiler-safe pan. Maintain atleast 3 inches gap between the grill coil and the dish.
You can also use a scorch torch to achieve the cheesy crust.
Which cheese to use in au gratin?
Sharp Cheddar, Parmesan cheese and Swiss cheese anything is perfect for au gratin.
Grated cheese or sliced cheese anything is fine. In fact, crumbled Feta is also a good choice and a nice twist. A mix of any three creamy cheese varieties gives a wonderful burst of flavors.
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Vegetable Au Gratin | Mixed Veg Au Gratin recipe
Equipment
- Baking pan or casserole
- Cooking pan
Ingredients
To cook veggies:
- 2 tbsp Butter
- ½ cup Carrots
- ½ cup Beans
- ½ cup Cauliflower
- ½ cup Green peas
- ½ cup Potato
- 1 tsp Italian mixed herbs
- ½ tsp Red chilli flakes
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Pepper powder
To make Sauce:
- 1 tbsp Butter
- ¼ cup Flour all-purpose
- 1 cup Whole milk
- 1 tbsp Garlic grated
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Pepper powder
For crust:
- 1 cup Parmesan or Cheddar shredded
Instructions
Preparation:
- Wash and chop all the veggies you are using. I always like to use fresh veggies over frozen ones. You are free to use any of your favorite veggies fresh or frozen.
Recipe:
Roast or cook the veggies:
- Heat 2tbsp of butter in a cooking pan.
- Saute all the veggies you are using. I used carrots, beans, potatoes, cauliflower and greenpeas 1/2 of each.
- Let the veggies roast in butter for a minute.
- Add a tsp of salt, Italian mixed herbs each and 1/2tsp of red chilli flakes, and pepper powder.
- Cover with a lid and fast cook the vegetables for two mins. The veggies should retain the crunchy texture as we are going to bake them again. Do not overcook the veggies. Do not add water, just roasting and flash cooking a few minutes would be perfect.
- Switch off and transfer the veggies to a plate and set aside.
Make white sauce:
- Add a tbsp of butter to the same pan and heat it.
- Gradually add 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour and roast well. Saute for two mins until fragrant for two minutes.
- Add a cup of warm milk and whisk well quickly. The flour tends to make lumps if cold milk is added.
- Do not worry if small lumps are formed. Just remove the pan from the heat for a minute, whisk briskly and break the lumps. Put the pan back on the stove, reduce the heat and cook the sauce.
- Add a tbsp of grated garlic, 1/2tsp of pepper and salt. Mix well for few minutes and switch off. If you want your gratin to be extra creamier add fresh cream with milk. Or half and half milk and cream.
- Switch off.
How to bake Vegetable Au gratin:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F(204C).
- I used a 9*13" glass casserole pan to bake my gratin. Fill up your baking pan with the sauce as the first layer.
- Add the roasted veggies and spread evenly.
- Pour the remaining sauce on top and mix gently.
- Spread a lavish amount of cheese(or a mix of cheddar, Swiss, Parmesan, or feta)of your choice. I used a cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.
- Sprinkle some pepper powder and herbs as you wish.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for ten minutes.
- After ten minutes take out the pan, remove the foil and put the pan back in the oven. Bake for ten more minutes until the nice cheesy crust is formed on top.
- Alternately if you use the broiler-safe pan you can broil for just two mins. If you want to broil the gratin, the first ten minutes of baking is enough.
- Let it cool down a bit, slice and serve hot.
Video
Notes
1) Use the right size baking pan to get crusty au gratin. Round or square or oblong or rectangular glass casserole or porcelain anything is perfect.
2) For chicken au gratin the cooking and baking time may vary. Use the same recipe for potato au gratin provided you roast the potato first.
3) Adjust spice as per your taste.
4) Please check out the story above the recipe card for detailed steps and tips.
Nutrition
Preparation:
- Wash and chop all the veggies you are using. I always like to use fresh veggies over frozen ones. You are free to use any of your favorite veggies fresh or frozen.
Recipe:
Roast or cook the veggies:
- Heat 2tbsp of butter in a cooking pan.
- Saute all the veggies you are using. Carrots, beans, potatoes, cauliflower and greenpeas 1/2 of each.
- Let the veggies roast in butter for a minute.
- Add a tsp of salt, Italian mixed herbs and 1/2tsp of red chilli flakes, and pepper powder.
- Cover the pan with a lid and fast cook the vegetables for two mins. The veggies should retain the crunchy texture as we are going to bake them again. Do not overcook the veggies. Do not add water, just roasting and flash cooking a few minutes would be perfect.
- Switch off and transfer the veggies to a plate and set aside.
Make white sauce:
- Add a tbsp of butter to the same pan and heat it.
- Gradually add 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour and roast well. Saute for two mins until fragrant for two minutes.
- Add a cup of warm milk and whisk well quickly. The flour tends to make lumps if cold milk is added.
- Do not worry if small lumps are formed. Just remove the pan from the heat for a minute, whisk briskly and break the lumps. Put the pan back on the stove, reduce the heat and cook the sauce.
- Add a tbsp of grated garlic and 1/2tsp of pepper & salt. Mix well for few minutes and switch off. If you want your gratin to be extra creamier add fresh cream with milk. Or half and half milk and cream. Switch off.
How to bake Vegetable Au gratin:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F(204C).
- I used a 9*13″ glass casserole pan to bake my gratin. Fill up your baking pan with the sauce as the first layer.
- Add the veggies and spread evenly. Pour the remaining sauce on top and mix gently.
- Spread a lavish amount of cheese(or a mix of cheddar, Swiss, Parmesan, or feta) of your choice. I use a cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.
- Sprinkle some pepper powder and herbs as you wish.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for just ten minutes.
- After ten minutes take out the pan, remove the foil and put the pan back in the oven. Bake for ten more minutes until the nice cheesy crust is formed on top.
- Alternately if you use the broiler-safe pan you can broil for just two mins. If you want to broil the gratin, the first ten minutes of baking is enough.
- Let it cool down a bit, slice and serve hot.
Tips:
1) Use the right size baking pan to get crusty au gratin. Round or square or oblong or rectangular glass casserole or porcelain anything is perfect.
2) For chicken au gratin the cooking and baking time may vary. Use the same recipe for potato au gratin provided you roast the potato first.
3) Adjust spice as per your taste.
4) Please check out the story above the recipe card for detailed steps and tips.
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