| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr 10 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Inactive: | 10 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 40 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup grated Cheddar
- 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 5 large carrots, peeled, sliced on the bias 1/4-inch thick
- 5 parsnips, peeled, sliced on the bias 1/4-inch thick
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 by 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a small pot, heat the milk with the thyme over medium-low heat until hot.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the canola oil. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the flour and cook stirring constantly until the flour is lightly golden brown, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the hot milk. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until very thick. Stir in the Cheddar, pumpkin pie spice and salt and pepper to taste.
- Coat the bottom of the prepared baking dish with a thin layer of the sauce. Place one layer of carrots slightly overlapping in the bottom of the baking dish. Top with an overlapping layer of the parsnips. Pour a third of the sauce over top. Repeat with two more layers each of the carrots and parsnips, ending with the sauce.
- In a small bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Evenly sprinkle over the top of the gratin.
- Bake until the gratin is bubbling and the topping is browned, and when pierced through the vegetables yield easily, about 1 1/2 hours. If the top begins to brown too quickly, cover with foil. Let rest for 10 minute before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 704 |
| Total Fat | 35 g |
| Saturated Fat | 15 g |
| Carbohydrates | 75 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 13 g |
| Sugar | 22 g |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Cholesterol | 70 mg |
| Sodium | 1184 mg |
Reviews
Fantastic!It
I really liked this recipe. I don’t like pumpkin so I didn’t use the pumpkin pie spice….I used cilantro pepper! I side stepped the bread crumbs too in order to reduce carbs.
Other than those changes….I loved this recipe!!! My family loved it too! Thanks Sandy!!!!! Keep up the great work!
We really like carrots and parsnips. Normally, I do not try too many of her recipes as I like to make from scratch and avoid a lot of preservatives and colorants. This one was from scratch, so we went for it.
The flavor was good and I didn’t mind the pumpkin pie spice. One thing I did notice though was that there is no way she used an entire cup of bread crumbs in the video. There was just too much bread crumbs trying to use it all, so we left some off.
Not sure I would use cheddar again as it was a bit stringy and wanted to separate in the dish.
We also cut up chunks of ham into the dish to make it a one dish meal. We will cut the recipe in half for next time as it was HUGE!
We will be trying this dish again with a few tweaks and a different cheese that melts well.
I was not impressed with this dish. My husband did not like it either. Didn’t really care for the sweet flavor. I liked the topping. Getting ready to try a different recipe, Honey Mustard pork cutlets, Rachel Ray. Looks and sounds good will let you know if I liked it or not.
Loved it! My two year old is the pickiest eater ever but he actually finished his whole plate! Impressed with the pumpkin spice flavor! Will def make again!
This recipe was so tasty and hearty. I cut the recipe in half, but I felt like that didn’t really give me enough sauce. I think if I dide that again, I would go ahead and make the full recipe sauce and just use what I need and toss the rest if it’s too much. I couldn’t find parsnips so I used a rutabega, which was actually pretty good. I thought all the flavors meshed well and I will definitely be making this recipe again.
This was really great! While I love parsnips, my husband and son aren’t so impressed so I confess to using white potatoes in place of parsnips. Also, I used just 2 cups of 2% milk and about 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg instead of pumpkin pie spice (which I don’t keep on hand. These substitutions all worked well and nicely complemented the pan-fried ham steaks we had alongside. I’ll likely prepare this again. It’d be great on a Fall or winter holiday table.
I typically do not like Sandra Lee’s recipes because there are too many short cuts and processed foods. BUT, this particular one was a “from scratch” recipe. I made this and it was wonderful. My husband, who claims to hate parsnips, ate almost the entire casserole by himself. I used fat free half and half as I didn’t have any milk, and it came out great. Would be great for Thanksgiving. I did not use the pumpkin pie spice, since it’s not a flavor I like.