Step-by-Step Recipe: Potato-Fennel Gratin

My only resolution for the new year was to try more vegetables.  I'm pretty brave when it comes to eating new vegetables, but I've been hesitant to try to prepare them myself.  I'd never tried to make anything with fennel before. But then a friend shared a recipe for potato-fennel gratin with me, and I thought, "well, why not?"  Anything covered in a creamy cheesy sauce has to be good, right?  Right.  The recipe is from the one and only Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa.  It is definitely not low-fat.  But it is delicious!

I served the gratin with sauteed chicken breasts with a creamy mustard sauce and sauteed spinach.  I'll share the chicken recipe later this week.  It was a nice pairing.  The chicken is lighter, but still rich in flavor.  Since I was just cooking for two (plus leftovers!), I cut the recipe for the gratin in half--we still have plenty of leftovers!

Pictures and recipe below the cut!

Start by assembling the ingredients.  (Note: these are the ingredients for a half recipe.) Yes, that olive oil is from France--we bought it on our trip last spring, in Nice.  It is the best olive oil I've ever had.  It tastes best when dipping bread in it, but it's starting to get "old," so I'm using it in cooking now, too.

Prep the fennel by cutting off the fronds and stalks, and cut it in half, lengthwise.  Trim out the core and then thinly slice the rest.  Ina's recipe calls for slicing crosswise, but I sliced lengthwise.  It's fine either way.  Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium low, and add the fennel and onion.  The purpose of sauteeing the fennel before baking it in the gratin is to lessen (significantly) the licorice-y flavor of the fennel.  If you are like me and hate licorice, you'll appreciate this.

Sautee the fennel and onion, stirring regularly, until tender, 10-15 minutes.

Thinly slice the potatoes, and mix with the cream, cheese, salt, and pepper.  Add the fennel and onion mixture, and mix well.

Pour the potatoes into a buttered baking dish, and press down.

Bake at 350 degrees for 90 minutes.   Let set for 10 minutes before serving.  Note: the recipe does not say to cover the gratin, but after 30-40 minutes, I could tell that it was browning a lot, so I covered it with foil for the rest of the baking time, and it was perfect.  You could cover for the first 45-60 minutes, and then uncover for the rest of the time.

Potato-Fennel Gratin, recipe from Ina Garten
Serves: 10 to 12.  Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Ingredients

• 2 small fennel bulbs
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 pounds russet potatoes (4 large potatoes)
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 1/2 cups grated Gruyère cheese (1/2 pound)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Butter the inside of a 10-by-15-by-2-inch (10-cup) baking dish.
3. Remove the stalks from the fennel and cut the bulbs in half lengthwise. Remove the cores and thinly slice the bulbs crosswise, making approximately 4 cups of sliced fennel. Saute the fennel and onions in the olive oil and butter on medium-low heat for 15 minutes, until tender.
4. Peel the potatoes, then thinly slice them by hand or with a mandoline. Mix the sliced potatoes in a large bowl with 2 cups of cream, 2 cups of Gruyère, salt, and pepper. Add the sauteed fennel and onion and mix well.
5. Pour the potatoes into the baking dish. Press down to smooth the potatoes. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of cream and 1/2 cup of Gruyère and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the potatoes are very tender and the top is browned and bubbly. Allow to set for 10 minutes and serve.