What is a Gratin? Making a gratin—layering raw or cooked items in a baking dish and cooking in creamy liquid with a crispy topping—is a guaranteed way to make your leftovers delicious (and with very little effort on your part).
This Recipe is flexible. Use it as a base, then add your leftovers—such as curry, roast chicken and veg, stalks and stems plus any leftover stock or wine. Watch Luke cook this recipe here.
Directions
- Wash, chop and prepare any leftover veg you have in the fridge. Ready to sauté in a pan. Note, we will transfer the dish into the oven (so use a pan that can go on both your cook top and oven) This is the perfect dish for silverbeet stalks, beetroot leaves, leeks, add an onion If you have one—plus cabbage and carrots can also be used. Note that leaves and stalks cook differently, so separate these and add your more fibrous veg (stalks, root veg etc) to the pan first.
- Sauté your prepared veg in a large pan, with olive oil for 5 - 10 mins.
- Now add some liquid to your pan—add in leftover curry sauce, some cream, stock or wine. Stir in leftover meat or roast veg. Continue to cook at a low temperature until the added moisture has cooked down (isn't so wet) and the mixture has thickened—but is still moist. season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove from the heat and give the dish a generous topping of breadcrumbs, panko, or crushed crackers: something to make a crispy topping.
- Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 180 degrees for between 20 minutes and an hour depending on the size of your baking dish. The vegetables should be tender, the cream or added liquid thickened and bubbling—and the topping should be crispy and browned. Serve hot.
