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Vegetable Au Gratin– a continental delicacy made with mixed vegetables and spinach cheese sauce as a base. Vegetable au gratin or veg au gratin has all the vegetables drowned in white sauce with lots of cheese, its creamy with a crusty top. It can be served with toasted bread.

Baking is fun, you can create so many things with little effort, this particular au gratin is so healthy and tasty that nobody can say no to it. And this can be included easily with any continental menu, this is very simple to make and looks are very tempting to impress anybody.

How To Prep Vegetables For au Gratin

We’ve used fresh beans, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, and peas. The veggies should all be chopped into approximately the same size so that they cook evenly. You can chop the veggies by hand or use a veggie cutter. The cooking time for each veggie is different and is detailed in the recipe card below. In one big pot of boiling water, we cooked the potatoes, carrots, cauliflower florets, beans, and peas, in that order. They cook evenly and are just right.

How To Make Spinach Cheese Sauce

The base of spinach cheese sauce is béchamel sauce or white sauce. To get the béchamel sauce right, you need to get the mixture of flour, butter and milk exactly right. So make sure you refer to the recipe card and measure these ingredients out. It’s important to cook the flour for a minute or two in butter so that the flour is not raw anymore. Before you add milk Should do the sniff test of the roux (flour and butter) should smell slightly nutty.

The only pressure point with a béchamel sauce is to keep it lump-free which can sometimes be difficult to achieve. The idea is to incorporate milk in a steady stream as you whisk it with the flour. Do this in batches so that milk gets fully incorporated before you add the next batch. This will ensure you have a lump-free, smooth sauce. We love classic French flavours so some garlic, minced onions, rosemary and nutmeg also go in the sauce. Later we added chopped spinach and lots of shredded cheese to give a smooth creamy green look.

The Cheese Layer

The veggies and spinach cheese sauce are creamy and smooth while the top layer is cheesy and crunchy. To get that golden brown top, there are two steps:

The cheese layer: there’s a layer of cheese that goes on top of veggies in spinach and cheese sauce. I’ve made this layer with grated processed cheese and parmesan shavings.
The layer of bread crumbs: I’ve used bread crumbs they get super crisp and take on a beautiful colour when baked. If you don’t have Bread crumbs you can Toast bread and make bread crumbs by grinding them in a mixer. Generously sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top of the cheese to get that golden baked layer on top of the au gratin!

Finally, I would like to suggest you few recipes from my blog

Vegetable Au Gratin In Spinach Cheese Sauce

Recipe by MINAL SHARMACourse: MainCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Medium

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Calories

396

kcal

vegetable au gratin is a french baked dish with lots of vegetables and cheese. this dish is a one pot meal.

Ingredients

For the spinach cheese sauce
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1-10 ounce chopped spinach
1 cup Parmesan cheese
For vegetables
1/4 cup diced carrot
1/4 cup chopped beans ‘( 1 1/2 ” long )
8-9 cauliflower small florets
1/4 cup peas
7-8 baby corns
5-6 mushrooms cut into two pieces
Cheese Topping
¼ Cup grated Parmesan Cheese
½ Cup grated Processed Cheese or Mozzarella
2 Teaspoons Bread Crumbs

Directions

For Vegetables
In a pan add 3 cups of water. Bring it to boil add carrots and cook for 3 more minutes. Next add cauliflower and beans and boil for another 3 minutes. Finally, add the green peas, cook for a minutes and drain all the vegetables. Set aside.
For spinach sauce
Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the flour and whisk into the butter. Cook for 2 minutes till the flour is cooked and smells slightly nutty.
Reduce the flame and start adding milk in a steady stream while whisking continuously. Add milk in parts and keep whisking it into flour till it thickens, adding more milk as you go. This prevents the sauce from getting lumpy. Add rosemary and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, whisking frequently, until the sauce thickens enough coats the back of a spoon, about 3-4 minutes.Add chopped spinach stir well for 2 min. Now add grated cheese and mix well. After a minute add cream and mix. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Add the vegetables to the sauce and mix well. Pour this into 11 x 7 x 1.5 inch baking dish and use a spoon to lightly level it. Evenly sprinkle parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese and bread crumbs on top of the vegetables.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 20 minutes or until the top is golden. Remove from the oven and serve hot with some bread!