Zucchini Gratin

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This dish is one of my favorites to serve in the winter.  If I didn’t live in a house filled with male carnivores, I would be happy to make a meal of this—either by itself or with a tossed green salad.  As it is, when I make this along with roast pork or chicken or beef of any kind, the guys I live with are happy and warm and filled up.

Zucchini Gratin
Serves 4

Preparation Time:  30 Minutes
Cook Time:  30 Minutes
Total Time:  1 hour

Ingredients:

2 leeks, white part only, halved, cleaned and sliced (an onion will work just fine if you can’t find leeks)
1 tablespoon butter
Olive Oil, about 2 or 3 tablespoons
1 garlic clove, finely minced
3 medium zucchini, sliced in ¼ inch rounds
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a skillet, melt the butter and then cook the leeks until they are soft and transparent.  Season them with a little salt and pepper.

In a baking dish (I often use a pie plate or an oval gratin dish), sprinkle the minced garlic and then spread the leeks over the garlic on the bottom of the dish.

In the same skillet, add a bit of olive oil and then lightly brown the zucchini slices over medium heat.  This will take about 2 to 3 minutes a side, and you may have to do this in batches.  Arrange the slices over the leeks and salt and pepper lightly.

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Pour the heavy cream over the zucchini, sprinkle on the Parmesan and bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and the cream is bubbling a little bit at the edges.  Serve immediately.

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11 Responses to Zucchini Gratin

  1. I would totally eat this all by itself for dinner too. Looks absolutely delicious!

    I laughed at your About section because it sounds just like me. I could sit around all day and read food blogs very happily. If you get a chance, I hope you’ll take a look at min.

    http://mignardise.blogspot.com

  2. Carrie says:

    This looks fabulous! I’ll have to try it out soon 🙂

  3. Susan says:

    Thank you for stopping by Carrie….

  4. Biz says:

    I’ve made cauliflower and broccoli gratins before, never thought of using zucchini though!

    And I am with you on the meat thing – one of the first dinners I made for my now husband when I was wooing him with my kitchen skills, was homemade chicken noodle soup (using my own homemade stock) and crunchy homemade artisan bread with herbed butter.

    He loved it! I cleared the table, cleaned the kitchen, then came and sat down next to him to see what movie we wanted to watch. After about 5 minutes he said “so what’s for dinner?”

    I have since learned that there needs to be meat on the side of his soup!

    Thanks for the idea!

  5. Susan says:

    The soup story is great…I’ll tell it to the guys tonight–they’ll relate to your husband, while I’m still chuckling…

    And thank you for the cauliflower idea – I’m a cauliflower roaster from way back, but a gratin sounds very yummy…

  6. Dawn says:

    Oh my – this looks amazing!!! I must try this…

  7. Susan says:

    Thank you Dawn.

  8. I have exactly 2 leeks, 3 courgettes and some leftover cream in the fridge…this is perfect!

  9. Susan says:

    Dear gourmet traveller,

    Wonderful…I’m glad this matched your ingredients.

  10. Rebecca says:

    Umm, oven temp?

  11. Susan says:

    Good grief! The oven temperature should be 350 degrees. Thank you for taking the time to write Rebecca….

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