TODAY’S RECIPE: Baked tomato, Gruyere and potato gratin

SERVE with a big green salad & sharp mustardy dressing. Serves 8-10.

Ingredients

Few knobs of butter, plus extra for greasing 1.5kg/3lb 5oz large potatoes, thinly sliced (on a mandolin if you have one) 8 round shallots or 4 banana shallots, thinly sliced 3 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped 650g/1lb 7oz mixed tomatoes, sliced 4-5 thyme sprigs 200g/7oz Gruyère, grated 100g/4oz Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), finely grated 500ml pot double cream 300ml/½pt vegetable or chicken stock 100g/4oz walnuts, chopped 1-2 tsp caster or granulated sugar 5 tbsp dried breadcrumbs

Method

1 Heat oven to 180c/160c fan/gas 4. Generously grease a large, deep, ovenproof dish. Strip the leaves from three thyme sprigs. Mix Gruyere with all but 2 tbsp of grated Parmesan, then mix double cream with stock.

2 Start layering up sliced potatoes with sprinklings of the shallots, garlic, thyme leaves, cheese and most of the walnuts, plus plenty of seasoning. Drizzle a little of the cream mixture over each layer, too. When you’ve layered in half of those ingredients, top with half of the tomatoes. Continue layering the rest of the ingredients, finishing with the last of the cream. Top with the remaining tomatoes, then sprinkle over the breadcrumbs, the remaining Parmesan and walnuts, and enough thyme to look pretty. Add a few more knobs of butter, then cover with foil.

3 Bake gratin for one hour 15 minutes, remove the foil and bake for a further 40 minutes until golden and crispy on top, and a knife poked into the centre slides in easily. Leave to rest for ten to 15 mins, then serve.