Sweet Potato Tartin

A twist on the traditional layered potato gratin, this sweet potato tartin is creamy, cheesy and makes a delicious vegetable side for your holiday table and beyond. I cut back the regular amount of butter & cheese and replaced it with oat milk which gives it that cheesiness and keeps the sweet potatoes from drying. Herbs and garlic provide the savory flavor and black pepper the touch of heat n spiciness. To make the dish look pretty I used a combination of regular and Japanese purple sweet potato. If you can’t find purple sweet potato use regular instead it’s still very delicious.

SWEET POTATO GRATIN

Ingredients

• 3-4 long sweet potatoes, look for slender long, rainbow colored, purple, white and orange (about 2 inches in diameter), peeled
• 1-2 large parsnip that has approximately the same diameter as the sweet potatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, minced, about a teaspoon
• 1 teaspoon grainy mustard
• 1 teaspoon corn starch OR plain flour 
• 2 cups unsweetened unflavored thick oat milk or any milk 
• 2 oz grated sharp cheddar or gruyere or vegan cheese
• 4 oz vegan or regular Parmesan,
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced thyme, divided
• Sea salt to taste
• generous amounts of fresh cracked pepper

• METHOD
• Preheat oven to 400˚F.
• Slice sweet potato and parsnips into very thin rounds (using a mandoline is easiest) and transfer each vegetable to its own bowl, if you’re using different colors to prevent staining
• In a bowl mix the milk, corn starch, 3/4 gruyere cheese, garlic, thyme, mustard, salt and pepper and half the Parmesan.
• Pour 2/3 cup in the bottom of a baking pan.
• Grab the bowls of sweet potatoes and line them standing up on a bias, at the top of the baking dish with the cheese sauce. Color coordinate the veggies if you want.
• Follow the sweet potato with a row of parsnips.
• Repeat with the remaining sweet potatoes, parsnips creating 6 rows of root vegetables.
• pour the remaining cheese mixture over the sweet potatoes making sure the vegetables are well coated.
• Season top of gratin with salt, pepper and sprinkle of remaining ounce of Parmesan.
• Cover with foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
• Remove from oven, uncover gratin and top with shredded gruyere.
• Set oven to broil and broil gratin for 3 to 5 minutes or until browned and bubbling on top.
• Finish with a sprinkle of fresh thyme leaves. Serve.