This gratin de blettes recipe is one of my childhood favourites.
Blettes, known as chard in the UK are a sturdy wonder vegetable that growns in the winter. In the UK, the rainbow variety is most prevalent however this large white one is known by most households in France. The leaves can be used instead of spinach and the stems are nice eaten steamed or stir fried, they have a light flavour of artichoke and spinach. But a very traditional way of eating them is in a gratin, what doesn't taste. good in a gratin.
Ingredients: (serves 4-5)
50mL EVOO
50g plain flour
500mL milk of choice
1 tsp nutmeg, ground
Salt
500g chard stems
Method:
Start off by making the béchamel (white sauce):
Warm up the oil in a saucepan then add the flour and whisk.
Cook on a medium low heat for 3 minutes, whisking every minute.
Gently add a bit of cold milk, then whisk to combine until smooth, then pour in more milk and repeat the process until all the milk is added and you have a smooth sauce. If there are any lumps, you can strain the sauce to remove them. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat. Add the nutmeg and salt to taste.
Assemble the gratin:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Remove the greens from the chard stalks, keep those to use cooked as you would spinach.
Layer in a deep baking dish with the white sauce, one layer of stems covered in white sauce then repeat.
Finish with a layer of white sauce and, optionally, top the gratin with cheese.
Bake at 200°C for 50 mins or until golden brown and you can easily put a knife through the stems.
Serve warm as a side dish, bon appétit!
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More about this recipe:
This gratin recipe can be made using other vegetables too, just swap out the chard for celeriac, potato, Jerusalem artichokes, butternut squash or a blend of anything you have and want.
You can par boil the chard in salty water for 5 minutes before assembling if you want them to be softer and for the gratin to take less time in the oven, I just find it easier to put them in raw and it means less washing up.
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