CELERIAC, SWEET POTATO & PANCETTA GRATIN
SERVES 6 as a side or
4 as a main with salad
A rich, creamy and crazily comforting bake covered with crunchy bacon instead of boring breadcrumbs, this is another way to get those besties, cheese and bacon, to hang out on your plate.
2 tbsp butter, plus extra
for greasing
400g sweet potato, peeled
200g celeriac, peeled
100ml heavy cream
2 tbsp fresh tarragon,
roughly chopped
1 tbsp thyme, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper
200g extra-mature
cheddar, grated
100g red Leicester or
cheddar cheese, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
150g pancetta, diced (or use
bacon lardons)
3 spring onions, chopped
Large handful of breadcrumbs,
made from day-old bread
25g Parmesan, grated
1 Preheat oven to 200°C
(fan forced). Butter a large, oval baking dish, measuring about 22cm x 30cm.
2 Melt the butter in a small saucepan, then allow to cool while preparing the vegetables.
3 Slice the sweet potato into thin discs – about 2-3mm. Do
the same with the celeriac, making sure the slices are roughly the same size. Mix together in a bowl with the melted butter, cream, tarragon and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
4 Layer the vegetables in the baking dish, with the cheese between the layers, but reserving about half the cheddar. Cover with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for another 5-10 minutes. The sweet potato and celeriac should be soft when poked with a knife, while the sauce should be rich and creamy.
5 While the gratin is in the oven, heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the pancetta for about 5 minutes until lightly browned – but don’t let it become crispy. Toss it into a bowl and leave to cool a little, then mix in the spring onion, breadcrumbs, Parmesan and reserved cheddar.
6 Remove foil from the gratin and spoon the pancetta mixture over. Cook, uncovered, for a further 15 minutes or so until the cheese melts on top, the breadcrumbs and spring onion brown lightly, and the pancetta crisps up. Leave to sit for about 5 minutes before ploughing in.