POTATO, PARSNIP AND PORCINI GRATIN
COOKING potatoes for large numbers of people is not always easy. This gratin makes it so, not least because I don’t peel the potatoes (or the parsnips, for that matter). Obviously, you don’t need to make it ahead of time, but knowing you can is a help. There is a fabulously musky scent to this gratin, which comes in part from the star anise, in part from the porcini, and also from the culinary alchemy of all the ingredients together. And the thing is, for something so sweetly comforting, it is — I cannot explain why — somehow grand and exquisite, too.
SERVES 8
10g dried porcini, or ceps 150ml boiling water, from a kettle 50g butter 1 tbsp garlic oil
● 500ml full-fat milk ● 500ml double cream ● 3 star anise ● 1 tsp Maldon salt or ½ tsp table salt ● Good grinding of pepper ● 900g potatoes ● 900g parsnips ● Gratin-type round, shallow, ovenproof dish (approx 30cm in diameter and 7cm deep) 1 SOAK the porcini in the boiling water for about 20 to 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 220c/gas 7.
2 HEAT the butter and garlic oil in a large pan. Drain the porcini, reserving the liquid, then finely chop the mushrooms and add them to the butter mixture to cook for a couple of minutes. Add the cream, star anise and salt and
the potatoes or parsnips, slice them into 1cm-thick round pieces and add to the pan.
3 BRING the pan to a bubbling simmer and then gently cook, partially covered, for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes and parsnips are tender, but not mushy. Decant into a gratin-type ovenproof dish.
4 COOK for about 40 minutes (it will need a little longer if you have cooked it ahead of time and left it to cool before putting in the oven) or until the top is coloured in places and the gratin looks bubbly underneath.
MAKE AHEAD TIP: Decant the vegetables into the gratin dish and leave to cool. Cover tightly with cling film and keep in the fridge for up to 1 day, or in the freezer for up to 1 week. To cook from chilled, leave at room temperature for about 40 minutes, then cook as directed. Or, thaw overnight in the fridge, and cook as above.